Recollections of a Lost Age
by Kaijo
Summary: A threat from their past endangers Rein, and the Wolkenritter must come to terms with who they have been if they are to save her. But it won't be that easy, and Hayate and Rein must unravel the mystery behind the antagonist before it's too late...
1. Memory Reinforcement

Beginning Author's notes: While this can be considered to take place after my MGLN Crisis fic, it can also be read as a stand-alone. But it does take place over a year after Crisis.

**Recollections of a Lost Age**

**Chapter 1: Memory Reinforcement**

Xx~~*~~xX

The laboratory was dark and somehow... fuzzy. Beakers on wooden tables bubbled, providing the only sound in the room. Shadows danced along the walls in tune with the flickering flames of a blazing fireplace, illuminating the various books and ancient tomes scattered about; some open to random pages and resting on pedestals or tables, with countless more in the shelves lining the stone walls.

As she looked around, she realized it must have been her own eyesight that was fuzzy. She could barely make out any details, although just enough to make-out the hunched-over form of a figure leaning one of the larger volumes, mumbling to himself.

She opened her mouth to ask, "Who are you?" but no sound came out. And in fact, she found she couldn't even move.

Growing desperate, she wanted to scream, to trash about, to do anything to regain some control over herself. Her other senses seemed to work; she felt herself resting on a cold, wood surface, the scent of pine and leather most potent with the acrid smells of various unknown substances permeating the rest. Her ears could make out the mumbling of the figure in the distance, growing in volume now, threatening to overtake the bubbling of the beakers and the rapid beating of her own heart.

[Where am I?] she thought to herself, frantic now. Once more, she attempted to yell, or to call out to anyone. [Someone, help me!]

And then she felt herself fall. She attempted to brace herself for impact, but there was surprisingly no pain upon striking the stone floor. It was if she was numb in a way. Whether she actually caused the fall, she didn't know, but she did succeed in getting the attention of the figure on the other side of the room. She could only stare in fright, as he came closer and closer.

"Hmm, how did you fall off there?" he stated, his voice somewhat deep and soothing as he picked her up and placed her back where she was. "Can't have anything happen to you, my dear."

She got a good look at him now. His hair was short and brown, but there were white patches along his sideburns. His heavy round glasses amplified his silver eyes, nearly drawing her attention away from the slight wrinkles in his skin. His nose and chin made him appear somewhat hawkish and shrewd. Gray robes covered most of his body, completing the effect that somehow she knew him to be a wizard of much power.

He smiled, revealing a row of mostly-white teeth, except for the two metal ones. "After all, you will be my legacy, the greatest work this world has ever known!" He raised his hand, a sliver Belkan triangle appearing in it. "Into you, I shall impart power far greater than any one man has wielded."

She opened her mouth to speak again, but what came out wasn't her voice, although it sounded familiar. "Acknowledged, Doctor."

The magical triangle symbol flared bright red and her world exploded into noise and images, flowing too fast to comprehend. She was falling, tumbling, into a world of pure information, and she was out of phase. She could feel her grip on reality slipping.

Then she saw his face floating there in the midst, staring at her, smiling, mouthing something. But the noise drowned out whatever he was trying to say.

[I don't understand!] she cried in her head. [What's going on? Who are you? What are you trying to tell me!?] She focused all concentration on him, partially in order to drown out what was going on around her.

At first it was barely a whisper: "..ein.."

[What!? I don't understand!]

"REIN!"

x~~*~~x

Reinforce Zwei's eyes shot open; that shout was not the voice of an older man, but of a young woman. As her vision came into focus, she could make out the worried face of her mistress, Hayate Yagami, above her, barely lit by the rising sun peaking through the shades.

"Rein!" the mistress of the Tome of the Night Sky called again, shaking her slightly with her fingers. "Are you okay?"

"I-I think so?" Rein offered, sitting up in her small bed on Hayate's nightstand. She then shivered as the blanket fell off her, her body covered in sweat. "I think I just had a bad dream." [But it seemed so real...]

"That's strange," Hayate said, her eyebrows furrowing in through. "You haven't had bad dreams before, have you? Ever since you were created, I can't remember you ever calling out like that in your sleep."

Rein felt some of the color drain from her face. "C-calling out!?"

Hayate let the blankets fall off her nightgown as she moved to sit on the edge of the bed. "You were moaning, tossing and turning, while mumbling 'Who are you?' and 'Help me!' I was really worried."

"Ah, heh heh, maybe I just had too much pizza last night!" Rein tried to joke and cover up her embarrassment.

Her mistress tapped her finger to her lips. "Still, I think we should have Shari take a look at you later."

Rein frantically waved her hands in a warding maneuver. "N-no, that's okay! I'm fine now!" She tried to laugh it off.

"Well, if you think so..." Hayate said after a few moments, briefly touching Rein's forehead to check for temperature.

Rein smiled and nodded. For some strong reason, she didn't want anyone to know about her dream, at least until she could figure it out on her own. She didn't want anyone worrying about her.

"Alright, well, let's take a shower," Hayate continued, smiling and standing up. "We have a busy day today. We have a small intro class to teach today with Nanoha, on the subject of Unisons."

"Alright!" the little girl replied, shedding her clothes as her mistress did the same, heading for the washroom.

x~~*~~x

Breakfast and the rest of the morning passed quickly, as Rein tried to busy herself with her work, preparing for the class. She wanted to avoid thinking about the dream, but couldn't quite put it out of her mind. Fortunately, the scheduled time for the class came quickly enough, that she could focus on that.

"Nanoha-chan!" Hayate called, waving as she approached the other girl.

Rein floated up from where she was sitting on her mistress's shoulder, to salute the Ace-of-Aces. "Master Sergeant Rein, reporting for duty!"

Nanoha giggled and saluted back. "And how are you two this morning?"

"Well, Rein woke me up this morning with her moaning, but I slept well," Hayate said wryly.

Rein's face went red. "I DID NOT!" Then turned away and did a "hrmph" as the two girls shared a laugh.

"How do the recruits look?" Hayate asked at last, after the laughter died down.

Nanoha partially turned to wave her hand at the gathered men and women, chatting in low tones across the room. "We have about ten for this first batch, and they all seemed skilled and eager. Shari gave the green light on the last unison device last night. They aren't as advanced as Rein, basic functionality really, but headquarters has really been pushing the creation of a unison unit for awhile."

Hayate nodded. "They've been wanting to make unison devices for a long time, ever since they saw how well I worked with Rein. It took many tries to create her, and even then, it was my magic and the memories of the old Reinforce that gave her that final spark of life."

Rein was only half-listening, studying the new dolls floating near the recruits. They were about her size, but not quite as animate. They were more like a rudimentary AI with their own magic, and ability to fuse with their master like Rein possessed. But they didn't have near the function and capability that Rein herself did. Not even Shari had Rein quite figured out yet, although with Agito's nervous consent, she was able to finally make some progress lately.

For all intents and purposes to the TSAB, Reinforce Zwei was a lost logia they were attempting to duplicate to shore up their military forces. A unisoned mage could rise several ranks in power, greatly bolstering the Bureau's power. Now that Shari had managed to get the unison device manufacturing process down, they could start testing them. Which led to this introductory class to teach the first group.

"Well, shall we get started?" Hayate suggested.

Nanoha nodded, then proceeded to the front of the class, Hayate and Rein following. "Good morning everyone!"

"Good morning Instructor Takamachi and Instructor Yagami!" came the seemingly well-rehearsed reply from the class as they lined up.

"Hey, what about me!?" Rein demanded, steamed.

Nanoha tried to hide her smile at the class's confusion, and mostly failed. "That's right, Sergeant Major Reinforce Zwei is a major part of this class. Perhaps you didn't realize it, because your own unison devices don't have quite the... personality she does. Yet. But hopefully with time, they will."

The class quickly apologized, which mollified Rein some.

Hayate took over. "Each of you is here because you are some of the best of the regular forces, and also because your magic style is Belkan. For now, that magic style is more compatible with Unison devices."

"For instance, I use mid-childan magic style," Nanoha continued. "So I could unison with Rein, but it would only be a minor boost in power at best. We haven't quite figured out the compatibility issues, but the good news is that your individual units have been tuned to your magic, so there shouldn't be any problems. Now, shall we begin?"

The lesson proceeded well enough, at least Rein thought so. She actually found it rather boring, and as a result, her mind started to drift in between demonstrations of fusing with Hayate. Eventually, it came time for the class to try uniting, and one-by-one they stepped forward to attempt it.

The first two went fine, but on the third, Rein found herself a bit hypnotized by the young man's silver Belkan triangle magic symbol. Images of the dream came back, clearer than before, of the older man and the similar silver Belkan triangle. On the edge of her vision, she could barely detect Hayate looking at her with concern. She wanted to turn and smile or something, but she found she couldn't move at all.

And then the fourth trainee stepped out and activated her magic, a red Belkan magic triangle, and Rein felt herself falling, barely detecting Nanoha and Hayate turning and shouting at her, as her world went red... and then black.

x~~*~~x

"How is she?" Vita asked, as her, Signum, and Zafira entered Shari's lab. She turned to look at Rein, floating nude in a small jar, eyes closed.

"Still unconscious," Hayate said, not taking her eyes off her device and friend. She couldn't displace the feeling that something was very wrong. "Shari is still working on it." She could hear the tapping of keys somewhere behind her where Shari and Shamal, were engaged in low conversation.

"She'll be alright," Signum tried to assure her mistress.

Hayate didn't say anything, but felt a firm hand on her shoulder, turning her head finally to see Zafira in one of his rare moments in human form. He preferred his natural wolf form, but he also knew his human form could be comforting to other humans.

"She may be small, but she possess strength greatly beyond her form," he offered quietly.

"I know," Hayate replied just as softly, her gaze returning to the small jar. "But I should have taken her to get checked up earlier, then maybe she wouldn't be in this state. She said she was fine!"

"That idiot would say that," came the voice of Agito, floating over Signum's shoulder to land beside the jar. "When she gets out of there, I'm gonna fry her for making me, err, us worry like this!" The little demon's mis-speech didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the group.

That gave the Mistress of the Night Sky a small smile. "Thank you, Agito."

Vita turned to the duo across the room. "Shari, Shamal, any news on what's wrong with her?"

The Wolkenritter doctor came over to the group, bringing up a window of data as she studied Rein. "If she were human, I'd say she was just in deep slumber. She has all the signs of REM sleep."

"She's dreaming?" Zafira asked.

Shamal nodded. "There also seems to be indications of conflict in her synaptic patterns, as if a suppressed memory were resurfacing. It's affecting her conscious mind and effecting a mental breakdown."

"But I've been with Rein since she was born, mostly," Hayate protested. "She couldn't have any traumatic memories!"

"It's not exactly that," Shari stated, swiveling around in her chair to face the group. She brought up a display panel near them. "There seems to be some sort of extra program in play here, attempting to rewrite her code. Rein's conscious mind seems to be in combat with that." She pounded the table in frustration. "And I can't stop it!"

"Isn't there anything we can do for her?" Signum voiced the question they all wanted to ask. "She is one of us; the Wolkenritter do not fight their battles alone."

Shari cast her gaze downwards as silence fell upon the room. Shamal turned back to her work, while Zafira reverted to wolf form and moved into the corner to curl up and start his vigil. Hayate knew he would stay there until Rein was out of the woods. She knew all of them would stay there. Signum was right; the Wolkenritter, no, her family would always be together, and would never let one fight their battles alone.

At that thought, Hayate's head came up. "I'll unison with her."

"Hayate?" Vita said, surprised.

"I'm not sure if-" Shamal started, but Hayate cut her off.

"You said she's dreaming, and that her conscious mind is fighting it, right? Then I'll lend her some of my power to help fight, and if I go into REM sleep as well, I may be able to interface with her dreams and see what this is all about."

Shari sighed. "It's... possible, but risky. Whatever is wrong with her, could affect you negatively as well."

Hayate's determination didn't waver. "I would rather risk my life, then lose any of you. I know you all would do the same." She didn't wait for a response, but went and laid down on the examination table. When no one moved, she added, "Please."

Shamal sighed, then half-smiled. "I think we all know you well enough by now, that you'd do it even without our help." She started to attach sensors to various places on Hayate's body. "But if it looks like things are going bad, we'll pull you out of there."

Her mistress nodded firmly, determination still firing in her eyes, but understanding there, too. She watched Signum stand back with the others, concern evident across all their faces, as Shari placed Rein atop Hayate. Normally, it took a conscious effort on both parts to create a unison, so Shari was going to artificially induce it on Rein's part. The technician asked if Hayate was ready, and then started the connection.

Hayate closed her eyes.

x~~*~~x

For awhile, there was just the void; blackness swirled around her. Then dancing phases of green replaced it, reminding her of her of her first fusion with the Book of Darkness, all those years ago. Before she could think about what to do, a familiar voice startled her.

"So you've come," the soft female voice intoned.

Hayate's breath caught in her chest as she turned to confirm what she heard. "Reinforce!" She recognized the first version she had named, wondering what she was doing here. "I thought you were gone?"

The figure that held the original Reinforce's visage shook her head. "I'm sorry, I'm just a failsafe program left in place by the first Reinforce before she left. But you can call me that if you wish. I was created to guide you, in case there was a problem with my descendant."

"But how did you place a program on Rein?" Hayate wondered, reaching out to touch the program's cheek.

"Reinforce didn't," she replied almost emotionlessly. "The program was placed on you, in your subconscious. I have been laying dormant there."

The SS rank mage blinked in surprise, never realizing she had such a thing floating around in the back of her mind. "Oh. Well, how do we help Rein?"

"We'll have to venture into her mind, but it will be risky," the Reinforce-program explained. "If Rein's mind mistakes you for an intruder, she could attack you. But if I hide your mind within my program, you should be safe. I am similar enough that I shouldn't be regarded as foreign material."

"Okay, I'm ready, let's do this!" There was no hesitation in her voice. At least, she hoped there wasn't.

Reinforce floated over to her, covering her like a protective coating, until only the former could be seen. Then the two rapidly seemed to descend. Images flew past, which Hayate assumed to be visual memories of Rein. Slowly, their speed seemed to decrease, and then there was a flash of light; Hayate found herself standing on solid ground.

"[I am trying to pick up Rein's trail,]" came the voiceless mental contact. "[Her awareness has been moving all over, and it's hard to pin her down.]"

The mistress of the Night Sky studied their surrounds, which appeared to be some sort of underground laboratory with a cobblestone floor. Light came from the fireplace, as well as a handful of torches. Despite the warmth from the flames, a chill brushed her skin that seemed to suggest she was standing in a very old place.

"Well, isn't this a surprise," an elderly voice called. "I didn't expect to see anyone for a long time."

The fused duo turned around to find an elderly man, of what Hayate guessed to be at least 70, clothed in a simple gray robe and rope belt. Short gray hair encircled his bald scalp, and he adjusted his weight slightly as he leaned on his gnarled wooden staff. He reminded the girl of the old wizards depicted in in her home planet's entertainment.

"Probably why I appear this way to you," he said, grinning and tapping his head with the head of his cane. "Yes, I can read your mind, and I know the real you is in there. Don't worry, I'm not sure any other denizen of this mind could detect you; but I'm special."

Hayate finally found her voice, but spoken with Reinforce's tone. "Who are you?"

He laughed, but it came off as more of a cackle. "Let me show you, and you'll understand." He hobbled across the laboratory, stopping to tap a book on a table. Of course, Hayate recognized it instantly.

"The Tome of the Night Sky!" she breathed. "Are you one of the past masters?"

Her question was met with more laughter. "In a way. I'm the first!"

Her eyes widened. "You created it!? Who are you?"

"That is a long story, and I'm sorry I don't have time to tell it to you fully right now," he told her sadly, sitting into a comfy chair beside the book. "You shouldn't stay here long, not if you want to save the book. My name is Clarius. I am, or was, a refugee from Alhazard. One of the earliest settlers of Ancient Belka. I created the book as a way to document the emerging magics, as our scientific way of life had nearly been the end of us. Our people sought a different way."

"Clarius, do you know what's happening with Rein?" Hayate asked. She wanted to know more, but somehow she also knew this old man was right; she didn't have a whole lot of time.

His gaze seemed to turn melancholy. "The answer to that lies with one of the book's previous owners, I suspect. As you know, the book's program was corrupted over the years by some of the owners." He pounded the floor with his staff. "My legacy was to document the rise of magic, hoping to avoid the mistakes of pure science. I was an arrogant fool. I should have realized there would be power-hungry mages who would break my protections. And now you and your Rein must pay the price."

Hayate kneeled down beside him, laying her hand over his. "It's not your fault; you couldn't have known what would happen. But can you tell me which owner and what they did?"

He shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry, my dear. I am but a residual program in the book as well. I've hidden my existence, so I could be a guide of sorts to any who would come here. Perhaps it was my attempt at immortality. I can't see very well what goes on out there without revealing my existence. But I do know there have been some major corruptions over the years."

"We ran into the defense program before," Hayate agreed. A thought struck her. "But the original Reinforce sacrificed herself to destroy those corruptions. Why is this happening now?"

"What you call Reinforce was merely the software," he explained. "So whatever went wrong, has to do with the hardware, the book itself. I'm guessing a false page or two of programming was added. It looks like an ordinary page, but it's a place for a magical program to hide. However, removing it won't solve your current problem. The current software has been infected, so you would have to wipe that as well as fix the book itself."

The original Reinforce's sacrifice in the snow came to her mind; a virtual mind-wipe would erase the Rein she knew and basically be the same thing. "No, I won't lose Rein the same way. There has to be a way to save her."

Clarius waved the end of his cane. "Then you have to venture out there. Find he root cause of the problem and destroy it. And before you use the Tome again, you have to find the right page and remove it. I'm sorry I can't help more, but I can't leave here without being detected."

The new mistress of the book smiled at him. "You've helped a lot, thank you."

He held out his hand, and Hayate helped him to his feet. "I can give you a headstart." He hobbled over to the fireplace, ablaze and crackling. "Jump into the fire, here. Think of it like a shortcut; it should take you close to where Rein's conscious mind is. Don't worry, this is my place, so the fire won't hurt you. You'll have to be careful elsewhere, though, as not everything is what it appears to be. And be careful what you attack, or you could hurt Rein."

Hayate leaned down a bit to hug the old man. "Thank you very much for your help, Clarius."

He protested. "I'm not dead yet, and if you succeed in this, you can come back to talk again another time. Now go, time is short."

She nodded, then turned and leapt into the fire. Before it swallowed her up, she thought she could hear the old man whisper, "I should thank you, for allowing me to see my wife again, even if it was just a shell program."

x~~*~~x

The fire was warm, but it didn't burn or hurt at all. Hayate allowed herself a few moments to think of the old man, Clarius, then focused her thoughts ahead. The tunnel of flames flew past rapidly.

"[Where are we headed now?]" she asked the Reinforce-program.

"[I am unsure,]" came the reply. "[I wasn't programmed with too many specifics, and this is my first time delving into my descendant's mind.]"

"[I guess we'll find out together,]" Hayate told her, smiling, then her gaze turned serious. "[Hold on Rein...]"

The flame tunnel abruptly ended in another flash of white, depositing the fused pair in a forest clearing. The sky was overcast, cloudy, with thunder echoing in the distance.

"[Hold on, scanning to determine direction,]" Reinforce sent.

Hayate's visage hardened as she turned. "[I don't think you need to bother.]"

Sitting on a hilltop on the horizon, gloomy-looking black castle served to further darken the skies. The lightning in the clouds surrounding the castle seemed to be the source of thunder as well. Hayate almost found the scene too cliché. She wondered off-hand if she would be attacked by flying monkeys en route.

"[I believe you are correct,]" Reinforce replied after a moment. "[I appear to be getting the strongest disturbance readings in that direction.]"

Mentally agreed, the fused pair took off, arriving at the black castle within a few minutes. There didn't appear to be any signs of life, but Hayate was sure that Rein was here, somewhere. While debating where in the castle to land, she figured that if this was all some sort of bad cliché, then her target should be somewhere in the central section, which should be the throne room.

Finding a balcony, she landed and entered without hesitation or stealth. She figured it was a safe bet that if anyone inhabited this place, they would know she was here. In fact, if anyone was here, she wanted them out here now. She wasn't sure how much time Rein had.

"Hello!" Hayate called in Reinforce's voice as she exited the room and into a stone hallway. Torches lined the walls, providing light.

"[I am not sure that was wise,]" Reinforce communicated. "[I am not sure what we are up against here. I am only a shell program, and do not have the combat abilities the original Reinforce did. I can only provide minimal protection.]"

"[It's okay,]" Hayate soothed. "[The sooner we find out what we are up against, the sooner we can move against it. Don't you have any memories of the original Reinforce?]"

"[I do not,]" she replied. "[I am just a guide program here to assist you. I do not have memories nor feelings.]"

"[That's sad,]" Hayate replied. "[I think you might. Perhaps I can ask Shari to help you with them, after this.]"

"[If you wish.]" Her demeanor changed. "[It knows we are here.]"

"Greetings to my unknown visitor!" a male voice called out, echoing throughout the hallway. "Had I known you were coming, I could have prepared for it. Even a simple knock at my door would have been helpful. But if you came all this way to meet me, you can find me down the hall, in the throne room!"

"[This way,]" Reinforce sent, and the pair jogged down the hall, following Reinforce's sensor readings.

"I apologize, I didn't realize this abode was occupied," Hayate spoke, still using Reinforce's voice to hide her presence. She arrived at a large double door, which she naturally assumed to be the throne room.

"That is understandable," the voice replied back from the other side of the door. "It does seem quite empty, doesn't it?"

Hayate pushed the door open and entered. She realized she probably could have guessed what the interior looked like, as it was similar to the black stone and torch motif outside. Only the figure on the throne took her a bit by surprise. Short ebony hair, long flowing black cape, but otherwise clad in grey knight's armor minus any helmet; almost attractive, in a bishojou romance manga sort of way.

"Well now, I didn't expect to see you," he stated in surprise, giving Hayate a start that he might have seen through her 'disguise.' His next words allayed that fear, however. "I thought you had destroyed yourself to save your current master."

"If you know who I am, that means you are who I am looking for," Hayate told him evenly, wishing she had her staff and Rein for aiming. "Where is she?"

"[I can function as both,]" the Reinforce-program told her. "[But only here in this mental world. Prepare any spells you need.]"

Hayate's magic triangle sprung up underneath her, black instead of white as the Reinforce-program covered it. She raised her hand, black energy gathering inside it as she formed her Diabolic Emission spell.

"Well, we don't seem to be wasting anytime," the man said, amused. He stood and spread his arms. "But you might want to ask yourself if you really want to cast that."

The Belkan mage froze, noticing for the first time the golden locket around his neck, that his previously crossed arms were hiding.

The shining surface held the symbol of Rein's Azure Sky Tome on it. She watched in horror as the locket was opened to show the inactive form of Rein, held captive within.

Xx~~*~~xX

Author's Notes:

This should be about a 6 part series. Beginning and End chapters, with 4 chapters in the middle for each of the Wolkenritter. I haven't decided quite which order to use them in, but it will go into their backstory. Tentative schedule:

Chapter 2: Knight's Honor (Signum)

Chapter 3: Fangs and Shields (Zafira)

Chapter 4: Hippocratic Oath (Shamal)

Chapter 5: Nothing They Can't Destroy (Vita)

Chapter 6: Second Wind


	2. Knight's Honor

**Recollections of a Lost Age**

**Chapter 2: Knight's Honor**

Xx~~*~~xX

The spell fizzled in her hand.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" Hayate demanded.

"I am Zanth Le Ronne, the true master of the Book of Darkness," he replied, closing the locket and bowing with a flourish. "As for what I want, that should be obvious: I intend to absorb this current device and all it's magic, the way the book once absorbed me."

Hayate's eyes widened. "You're not a program!?"

"Not at all," Zanth told her, sitting back down. "It was I who first changed the Tome of the Night Sky to the Book of Darkness. I broke its programming and allowed myself to be absorbed by the book before I died to gain immortality. But the current master of the book surprised me; through her actions, you were supposed to have died. That left me trapped within the book, I must say, that was rather upsetting."

"[Any ideas?]" Hayate asked the Reinforce-program.

"[There is one possibility,]" Reinforce responded after a moment.

The mistress of the Night Sky realized what the shell program was getting at. "[Understood.]" Out loud, she asked, "So what changed?"while inching a bit closer to the throne.

"I see no reason to tell you," he told her, seemingly tired of her presence. "For now, I will allow you to leave. I want you to go tell your master that her actions have forced this. If she doesn't interfere, I may allow her to have this one back, when I am through with it."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," Hayate informed him, using her own hands to restart the Diabolic Emission spell, hidden from view inside the Reinforce-program's disguise. "I am here to retrieve her, and it will be better for you if you let her go. Now."

He smiled lazily. "And just how do you expect to do that? You can't attack me with magic without hurting your precious unison device."

Giving the mental nod to Reinforce, she charged, aiming to grab his neck. The surprising nature of the maneuver nearly succeeded, as Zanth was clearly not expecting a physical attack. However, he easily grabbed her wrists before they could get close enough.

"Well, you are a surprising one," he chuckled. "But not very smart. What do you plan to do now?"

"This!" Hayate shouted using her own voice for the first time.

Another hand burst from the Reinforce-program's chest to grasp the locket. Planting her feet, Hayate shot upwards, taking the locket off his neck while separating from the Reinforce disguise she had been wearing, her black wings sprouting.

Snarling in anger, Zanth let go of Reinforce's arms and managed to snag Hayate's right ankle, his hand flaring with black energy. "Give that BACK!"

White hot pain flared along her leg, moving up her body, but she managed to shout back, "You can have THIS instead!" while thrusting the now-medium sized ball of energy down. "Diabolic Emission!"

Hayate tried to shield the locket from the explosion as she was tossed across the room. Her personal barrier helped some, but she landed far too roughly than she would have liked. She also hoped that the Reinforce-program managed to get clear as well.

Before she could pick herself back up, three black lines shot out of the smoke obscuring the throne, latching onto both her legs and her right arm. Against her will, she found herself being pulled back towards the throne, unable to find anything to grab onto to stop it.

The smoke dissipated, revealing Zanth still standing, although he was bleeding from his lip and his armor was cracked and broken in various places. "You really didn't think that would stop me, did you? Although I will give you credit; it did hurt. Allow me to return the favor."

A pulse of black energy traveled along the tentacles, and Hayate screamed as it reached her; it felt like all her pain receptors had just been bathed in hot flame. As it faded, Hayate grit her teeth and struggled with the meager strength she had left, but the black appendages wouldn't let go.

If she couldn't get away, then maybe at least Rein could. With the locket in her free hand, Hayate flicked it open, poking Rein with her thumb and trying to wedge her out.

"Rein, wake up!" the mistress of the Night Sky commanded, finally getting the small girl out of the locket.

"You are wasting your time," Zanth told her, continuing to reel her in like a fish. "I've already drained most of her power; she won't be of any use to you."

Hayate wracked her brain. [Come on, think! There has to be something you can do!]

Zanth's expression suddenly changed to anger as his body stopped moving. "What the...!?"

In disbelief, Hayate watched the Reinforce-program overlay herself onto him, nearly swallowing him into herself. The black magic tentacles loosed their grip.

"Go!" the program shouted. "I can occupy him long enough for you to get away!"

"What about you?" Hayate called back, struggling to her feet. "I can't leave you!"

"I told you, I'm just a shell program," she called back, her face and body beginning to distort as Zanth tried to fight his way free. "The original Reinforce would have wanted this, to help in any way she could. She left me to do this. GO!"

Hayate froze for a moment, still unable to force herself to leave, but then her decision was made as Reinforce exploded. Tears in her eyes, Hayate flew out the doors, preparing another spell spell in her mind as she flew. She zoomed out the balcony where she entered, climbing into the sky, twisting her body around to face where she had come from. It wouldn't be as powerful as she would have liked, nor did she have Rein for aiming, but at this range it would suffice.

"Come forth, the wind of snow, and become the fletching which falls from the heavens," she intoned, trusting her palm out, her white Belkan magic triangle forming. "Hraesvelgr!"

There was a second of charge-up, then a white lance of energy exploded from the symbol, striking the castle dead center. A second later, the entire fortification exploded in an ever expanding alabastor sphere.

Cradling Rein to her chest, she flew as fast as she could to escape the blast radius, but white light engulfed her.

x~~*~~x

Hayate's eyes blinked open, finding herself back in the examination room.

"Are you okay?" Shamal inquired worriedly, hover over her field of view.

"W-what am I doing back?" Hayate asked weakly. "Where's Rein?"

"Hi," came a ragged, but familiar voice. Hayate lifted her head a bit, to see Rein laying on the former's chest; The smaller girl managed a weak smile.

The mistress of the Wokenritter managed to lift her arms and hug the little device. "Rein!"

"You did it," Signum commended her, smiling as well. "What happened in there?"

Hayate sighed, and began to explain....

x~~*~~x

"I'll go," Signum stated.

"If something needs to be destroyed, I should go!" Vita protested, hefting Graf Eisen.

After Hayate's explanation, Shari had explained that the program was still there in Rein's subconscious, and she still couldn't destroy it from outside. Hayate wanted to go back in, but Shamal vetoed that idea. She was already somewhat weak, and Hayate also realized she had to examine the book itself for the false page or pages. She had already produced the Tome of the Night Sky and Shari was examining it with her scanning equipment while Hayate leafed through it.

Rein herself was a bit better; at least conscious. But suffering from occasional headaches and hallucinations.

"As the leader of the group, I have the prerogative," the sword-wielding Belkan Knight informed her.

Vita simply glared at the other girl, then turned her head. Signum knew that was her way of giving in without looking like it.

Shamal began to attach similar sensors to the leader of the Wolkenritter as Signum laid down and Hayate brought Rein over.

"I'll induce a sleep state for you both once you're in unison," Shari informed them. "And like before with Hayate, Shamal and I will pull you out if things are looking bad."

Signum nodded and closed her eyes as Rein united with her, and soon was fast asleep....

x~~*~~x

She awoke on a grassy field, the sky clear and blue, and a light breeze ruffling her hair and armor. As she sat up, Signum took in her surroundings, her mouth dropping open.

Dead bodies surrounded her; soldiers and mages alike, covered with blood and dirt. It was as if this battle had ended not even a day before.

"[What is this?]" Signum heard Rein's voice from within.

"[Rein, you're there!]" the Belkan Knight replied, relieved. "[I wasn't sure if you'd make it over with me.]"

"[I'm here, just not at my best,]" Rein replied, and Signum could feel that the unison wasn't as strong as with previous occasions. "[But what is all this?]"

Signum felt her pulse quicken, and at first wondered why the sight of a battlefield of death would cause that; she was a trained warrior after all. "[It's somehow... familiar.]" She shook her head. "[Where do you recommend we go?]"

"[I-I'm not sure,]" the smaller girl confessed. "[I don't recognize these as my memories, and I can't detect the Zanth virus program at all.]"

"[Then let's have a look around,]" Signum told her, flying up into the sky. More feelings of deja vu assaulted her senses, and she nearly lost control of her flight.

The green spread out before her, with areas of seemingly pristine forests and mountains. But the village nearby, caused a small pounding in her brain. The way the buildings were laid out, with the fountain in the middle... Something wrong... something bad...

"[Signum?]" Rein asked, concerned.

The Wolkenritter leader shook her head. "[Nothing, sorry. Let's check out that village. Maybe we'll find something.]"

The pair flew off, landing a certain distance outside of the town in order to walk in. The wooden gates that were more of a decoration than a fortification, hung off their hinges. It seemed only a light breeze would be all that it took to cause them to crash down. The sign above the gates, listing the name of the town, was in a language neither Signum nor Rein recognized.

"[No one seems to be around,]" Rein noted, then added. "[I don't think anyone has been here for a long time; it's a mess!]"

Rein was correct, Signum noted. The wood buildings were all in various states of disrepair, some completely demolished. As they walked the dusty road to the elaborate fountain in the center of town, Signum got the odd feeling she had walked this road before.

Her right hand came up quickly, catching the stone that was thrown her way. [How did I know that was coming?]

"[There's someone up there, in the second floor of that large inn!]" Rein called.

Signum wasted no time, leaping to the broken second story window where the stone had come from. A small figure had just left the room, and the Belkan Knight took off after her. Its speed was no match for hers, however, and Signum was eventually able to grab the back of her quarry's shirt in the hallway beyond.

"Let me go, you murderer!" she screamed, as her blue hat fell off, revealing short red hair.

Signum was taken aback, but quickly turned the girl around to face her, holding the child's arms against her side to stop her squirming. "What did you call me?"

"You're one of them, a murderer!" she cried, winding her right leg back and sending it at her captor's shin.

The experienced warrior saw it coming and lifted her leg a bit, letting the kick collide with her armored boot.

"Ow!" the girl, who couldn't have been older than 10, cried. "Belkan Pig!"

Signum's eyes widened.

"_...and we won't stop until we defeat all you Belkan pigs!" the girl was screaming in the light of the fire behind her, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Come on!"_

She shook her head, then stared at the girl, who was the same one in her flashback. "I... know you."

"LET HER GO!" came a young male shout from behind, followed by a shower of rocks and stones.

They bounced harmlessly off her armor, but Signum's honed senses did recognize a danger. Releasing one hand from the girl, she turned and drew Levantine in one smooth motion, slicing the arrow in half before it hit her. She realized after the fact that the object would never have penetrated her armor. The teenaged boy with the bow down the hall, standing with the other children, must have realized it, too. Signum saw fear in his eyes, but determination, too.

"RUN!" he shouted.

The girl Signum had been holding with one hand, jerked her arm free and sprinted away, vaulting the railing of the staircase and disappearing below. The boy and the other children disappeared into side rooms, or leapt down holes in the wood floor.

Signum was hit by a sense of urgency. "Wait! It's dangerous!" She sprinted after the girl, but the floor creaked under her weight, then gave way, sending the Belkan Knight crashing down to the first floor.

"[Are you alright?]" Rein asked, as Signum pushed the boards off. "[Who are those kids? You seemed to know them.]"

"[I can't explain it, but we need to hurry,]" Signum replied back, jumping to her feet and running outside, only to freeze in her tracks at the sounds of screams. "[No... not again!]" She resumed sprinting around the corner, ignoring the calls from Rein within.

The village was suddenly ablaze all around them, causing Rein to gasp. However, the Belkan Knight didn't stop, continuing to run in a direction she could barely comprehend, dodging the collapsing buildings as she threaded her way through the growing inferno. She eventually stopped in the doorway of one building that was still intact, yet wouldn't be for long as the fire nibbled away at it.

Rein gasped again; just inside and below them in the collapsed basement, the teenaged boy who had shot the arrow earlier was caught under a burning pillar. Two children nearby trying to pull him free; a young boy and the red-haired girl she had had caught earlier.

"Please, save them!" the teenager pleaded with Signum as he spotted her. "Get them out of here!"

The warrior wasted no time, leaping in to grab both children by the waist. "I'll come back for you!"

"There's no time, my entire right side is crushed!" he yelled back, fear edging into his voice. "Just please, promise me you'll take care of them!"

"I promise," Signum replied quickly and firmly, leaping out of the hole for the entrance. As if on queue, the building imploded in a fiery crash, just as she cleared the exit.

"You killed him!" the boy and the girl yelled at their savior, small hands balled into fists, repeatedly striking the knight.

"I wanted to save him!" Signum shot back. "But I have to save you, I have to get you out of here!"

"Good job, as expected from our Blazing General, Commander Signum," came a new voice, male and older. She looked up to see a group of nine knights surrounding her, clad in red armor similar to her own, but in different sizes. Helmets covered their faces, obscuring their identities. "You captured two more rebels. We can execute them now. Please stand clear, Commander."

"[Signum, what's going?]" Rein asked again, growing more frantic. "[There's something wrong with you. Who are these people?]"

The knights activated Belkan magic symbols, forming their various spells as they spread out around the smaller group, swords, axes, spears and bows glowing.

"NO!" Signum screamed desperately, launching herself forward as the spells went off.

x~~*~~x

Rein couldn't believe her eyes; she had never seen Signum like this. What about this situation was affecting her so much? She wasn't even listening to Rein anymore!

The skilled female warrior struck with mad fury, blocking a beam from one, hacking into another, loading cartridges into Levantine with reckless abandon. The knights seemed surprised as they were attacked, but started to rally. The biggest knight slammed his burning double-headed battleaxe down, but Signum sidestepped and sliced the head off the pole, then spun and impaled the owner. Three more fell in rapid succession.

Suddenly Rein was tossed out of Signum's body as the unison was canceled. She floated there in shock for a second, then decided she could at least help and popped her Azure Sky Tome into existence.

"Grab them, freezing hold!" she cried, stretching out her hand, her ice white Belkan triangle magic symbol spinning. "Chains, Freeze!"

A spear user was encased in ice, trapped for questioning later, but Rein was shocked when Signum cut through him anyway. The seemingly-mad Belkan Knight leapt and engaged one of the last, the one who had spoken before, his sword ringing against hers.

Rein's eyes were drawn to the side and behind the battling pair. "Look out!"

The last knight, an archer, had just launched three fiery arrows towards the two children. Signum batted the sword-wielder's weapon away, then impaled him, turning with incredible speed and leaping toward the three arrows. Rein was already casting, freezing one of them in mid-flight and dropping it to the ground. The Wolkenritter knight slashed a second.

And both watched in horror as the last arrow strike the boy, who had stepped in to shield the girl. The force of the shot sent both careening backwards, into the mass of flames behind them that was engulfing the building.

For a second, it was deathly quiet, except for the crackling of the flames. Then Signum screamed, red magical energy flaring outward.

The male knight with the sword, tried to sit up, his helmet gone, revealing his somewhat handsome face and short brown hair. "Commander... w-why did you..." His hand was attempting to staunch the flow of blood from his chest, but then his eyes rolled up into his head and and he fell backwards.

Rein looked around, noticing that all the knights were helmet-less now, revealing men and women. They didn't seem as inhuman as they did a few minutes ago, and she felt a pang in her chest. But it seemed to pale in comparison to what her partner was feeling.

"What did I..." Signum sputtered, then her frightened visage changed to supreme anger. "What did YOU DO! You killed them! I won't let you get away with THIS! YOU KILLED AGITO!"

Rein stared in shock as the bloodied Belkan Knight shot into the air, heading off into the distance. "Signum!" she called, taking off after her. The former could fly faster than the smaller girl, and currently was.

A realization hit her as she flew. [Signum seemed to know about all this and I didn't. I don't think we're in my head... we're in Signum's! We got it reversed!]

"[Not quite, little one, but close,]" a gentle male elderly voice sounded in her mind. "[This is a stage, setup by someone else to deceive and control. And pardon for my intrusion, but I mean you no harm. I want to help you.]"

"[Who are you!?]" Rein demanded to know.

"[My name is Clarius,]" he told her. "[I can tell you more later, but right now, we need to help Signum.]"

Rein recognized that name; Hayate had mentioned it in her explanations, although Rein had been a bit out of it."[The tome maker! What's happening to her?]"

"[Zanth is attempting to corrupt her again, just as he did hundreds of years ago,]" Clarius replied. "[By making her relive her worst day, over and over, until she breaks again. She has mostly forgotten her first life, due to living so many lifetimes. I am going to download some memories into you, little one, and you must get these to her. If you don't, Zanth will take control of her and you.]"

Rein gulped. "[I-I'll try my best.]" Her eyes turned blank for a moment, data flickering across them. As she processed it, a single tear fell down her cheek.

"Get her out of there!" Hayate pleaded, watching the injuries just appear on Signum's body. Bruises formed on her legs and arms while blood leaked from the corner of her mouth, but the real worry was the spreading dark red spot on her side which Shamal was attempting to treat.

"I can't, something's not right," Shari replied, frantic. "The removal program is being blocked somehow. I can't even cancel the unison!"

Vita watched Shamal doing her best to heal the injuries, Graf Eisen in hand.

x~~*~~x

Unable to keep up with Signum's flight speed, Rein eventually lost sight of her. But she assumed Signum was going directly towards something, so kept flying in the same direction. A few minutes later, she found the largest fortification she had ever seen, almost as big as Clanagan, minus the ruined outer buildings. Smoke billowed forth from several locations, as if it was under attack.

"[You will find Signum in the center, and you must hurry,]" Clarius told her. "[I must leave you now. If I get any closer, Zanth may be able to detect that I am here. I must remain hidden for now. Good luck, little one!]"

Rein nodded firmly. "[Thank you. I'll save her!]"

It didn't take long to find the most heavily fortified castle in the center. Strangely, she encountered no resistance as she flew down and through a hole in the large stone wall. The inside resembled the corridors in the TSAB, but this version had various bodies littering the corridors. Rein steeled herself as she followed the trail of carnage.

Gradually, the sound of fighting grew louder and louder, until Rein turned one last corner. "Signum!"

But it wasn't the Signum she knew. Her eyes were completely red, her expression berserk, as she hacked and slashed her way through the hallways. Her cut and bloodied pink mane only added to the wild look, her hair ribbon apparently having been lost. She also limped on her right foot, while cuts and gashes littered her face and armor. She wasn't even bothering to use cartridges nor activating any special attacks as she attacked anything that came her way with a savage fury.

The Belkan Knight ignored the smaller girl, continuing on. Rein gathered her courage and flew in front of her, holding her arms out to block her path.

"Signum, stop, that's enough!" Rein commanded. "This isn't who you are!"

Signum growled and slashed at her, nearly without hesitation, and Rein barely dodged it in time.

Male laughter echoed throughout the hallway. "Did you really think that would work? Though I admit I am amused by your attempt."

Rein ignored the voice. "Signum, I know you don't want to do this. Remember who you are! Remember your honor!"

For a moment, it seemed as if she hesitated, then resumed wildly slashing at the smaller girl. The strikes were almost unskilled, as if driven by an animalistic fury, which gave Rein enough of an edge to dodge them.

"Is that all you can do?" the voice of Zanth mocked. "She's no longer who you thought she was. My loyal knight as returned to me; she is mine once more! Oh the worlds we destroyed together. This is nothing to the blood she once spilled for me!"

Rein felt her anger rise. "Oh yeah!? If she is yours, why aren't you here? Perhaps you're afraid she'll strike you down if were!"

"I will take your bet, little runt," Zanth replied, amused, and faded into existence behind the ragged, heavy-breathing and wild-eyed Belkan warrior. "Hello, my dear Knight. Why haven't you completed your mission? You must kill all those who have betrayed you. It is all their fault that the ones you love were taken from you."

"Signum..." Rein breathed, as the knight turned toward the man-in-black behind her. For an instant, she hoped Signum would attack him, but that hope was dashed when she failed to react.

Zanth reached over and placed a figure under her chin, lifting it a bit, then smiled and directed her gaze back towards Rein. "There is your next target: Kill her."

Rein was forced to dodge again as Signum snarled and lunged. Growing angry, Rein opened her book, flipping pages for the right spells. She aimed her hand at Signum.

"Icy nature, gather into my hand and release your power!" Rein chanted. "Crystal Cocoon!" A lance of ice exploded from her palm, hurtling towards Signum.

[Please let this work!] Rein prayed, and was rewarded as the ice lance brushed the knight's side, confirming her aim had been true.

Zanth's eyes widened a bit as he realized in the last second that Signum wasn't the target, but him. He thrust out his hand to destroy it, but Rein had anticipated that. The lance exploded into several blue streams that covered Zanth's body, freezing him in a large ice crystal.

Rein had no time to focus more on that, barely dodging a sword swing that took her hat instead of her head. She gathered her courage and zoomed in close, placing both hands on Signum's chest, who was bringing her sword down to strike.

"Chilling Armor!" she cried, closing her eyes as the point of the sword came at her.

Sheets of thick permafrost rapidly spread out from Rein's palms, engulfing the knight in a suit of blue ice, but stopping at her neck. Rein cautiously opened her eyes again, noting she was still alive, although something cool ran down the left side of her face. The point of the sword had just barely touched her temple, creating a small rivulet of blood. A split second later and she would have been skewered.

Behind Signum, the crystal cocoon had started to crack, and Rein knew she didn't have much time. "Blessing Wind, bestow upon me thy protection! Enshrine thy name upon all creation and deny my enemies passage! Flash Freeze!"

The temperature in the area dropped extremely low in an instant, forming several ice walls around Rein and Signum. She hoped she had bought enough time.

"Okay, Signum. It's time for you to remember." She floated up the Belkan warrior's snarling face, realizing she would be unable to do a unison. Instead, she kissed Signum's forehead.

Images began to flash through both their minds.

x~~*~~x

_She was a proud Knight of Belka, one of the most decorated, having never lost a battle. The Blazing General, they called her. She served her liege, the King, with honor and courage. However, Belka's neighbors soon disagreed with it's rise in power, and magical war had broken out. Signum led her group of knights on campaign after campaign. She was set to achieve the highest reward: her own unison device. Rare and powerful, these were given to only the most loyal and worthy of the Saint's subjects. She had been called in to have the device turned to her, but it would be awhile before it was ready._

_However, she had her detractors; those jealous of her rise in power and status. They schemed and plotted, discovering her weakness and planning to use it against her. After a campaign against an enemy army, they managed to get her new orders: destroy the town that harbored the rebels. Signum planned to do it on her own, but upon entering the town, she found it only inhabited by children, orphans of war. She managed to befriend the scared group, and became good friends with one in particular: a red-haired girl of ten._

"_I wish you could stay here with us forever," she told the knight, smiling._

"Agito...." Signum whispered in despair, a tear running down her cheek.

_She refused to destroy the town, but her troops had received orders otherwise. When she didn't return by nightfall, they invaded and burned it to the ground, despite Signum ordering them not to. She attacked her own troops, her own honor telling her this was wrong. This was not how a warrior, a Knight Of Belka, fought. But she was stopped and brought back in chains. Her enemies had used her one weakness against her: her honor._

_She returned to the castle in disgrace, having disobeyed orders; unable to go against her personal honor as a knight. While the King's council deliberated, Signum visited the team of scientists who were creating her device, requesting that it be given red hair and the name of Agito. Even if she was denied it, at least this way the child who died would be remembered._

_And she had been denied. Also, she had received word that the King had ordered the razing of another village. Signum wept; her liege had used to be a kind ruler, but the increase in warfare had seemingly changed the King. To put an end to this, Signum attacked the King, injuring but not killing the guards along the way. She no longer cared what happened to her, if she could put an end to the war and the orphans like Agito it created._

_She failed. She was beaten, locked in chains once more, thrown into the dungeon, and scheduled for execution. But there was an attack on the castle that night, and Signum was able to escape. But wounded, and with nowhere to go, she wandered the forest at night, lost, until she ran into him._

"_Noble Knight of Belka," he told her, "What are you doing here so late at night?"_

_She collapsed, her strength and her wounds catching up to her. "I... have nowhere to go. I am outcast, a ronin. A dishonored knight with no master to serve."_

_The elderly man brought out a book with a Belkan marking. "I have watched you, Knight Signum, and you do not lack for honor. Your courage and heart are to be commended. If you seek a true master to serve, I offer you a new life. Become a Guardian Knight for the Tome of the Night Sky. I am old, and not long for this world. I seek warriors to guard the knowledge this Tome will obtain, and to guide and protect future masters. And you, Knight Signum, will lead them with your honor and courage. Do you accept?"_

_Signum managed to rise to her feet, her soul fleeing cleared of guilt and doubt. She had a chance to atone, as a trust was placed in her. She dropped to one knee, drawing her sword and planting it in the ground, giving her solemn pledge to protect and serve._

x~~*~~x

The ice exploded, sending Rein flying with a startled scream, striking the wall and sliding to the ground, dazed.

"Your ice tricks aren't bad, but they can't stop the inevitable," Zanth told her, anger in his eyes. "Signum, now is your chance, kill her!"

Rein's vision came back into focus, as she watched the color come back into Signum's eyes. But it was only for a moment, as the knight screamed, red magical energy shattering the icy armor holding her fast. Rein tried to move, but she was still somewhat stunned, and Signum leapt forward to grab her in her left hand.

Rein screamed as Signum began to squeeze.

Xx~~*~~xX

Author's notes:

For those reading this a second time, I removed reference to the Saint, as I've learned a bit more about Belkan history. There were a series of wars that grew, until the Saint came along and started uniting things, but I'll hopefully get into that in future chapters. For the moment, I've been tweaking these chapters to bring it a bit more inline to my Crisis series.


	3. Fangs and Shields

**Recollections of a Lost Age**

**Chapter 3: Fangs and Shields**

Xx~~*~~xX

Zanth drifted closer. "Yes, kill her! With her consciousness dead, I can take over her body. It's not much, but it's a start!"

Signum whirled and Zanth's expression changed into surprise as he sputtered, his face dropping to see his stomach impaled by her sword.

"I'm not your plaything anymore!" Signum growled, loosening her grip on Rein. "Levantine!"

"Explosion!" her sword sounded back, almost sounding chipper while it loaded two cartridges.

"Dragon Flash Burst!" she nearly whispered to Zanth's widening eyes.

Zanth's body nearly exploded into heat and light as the Belkan Knight yanked her sword free, twisting her body to shield Rein as she threw up the last of her magic into a barrier. The force of the blast sent her flying down the hallway, but she did her best to tuck herself around the smaller girl until they stopped rolling and came to a stop.

Panting, Signum opened up her hand. "Rein, are you alright?"

The smaller girl cracked her eyes open. "Y-yes, I think so." Then she smiled. "Welcome back!"

The Wolkenritter leader released Rein, then dragged herself up, dabbing at the head wound she had just received. The blood leaking from it at forced her to close her left eye. But there was a bigger pain that dwarfed the rest.

"Rein, I am sorry," she said, bowing her head. "I remember everything now, my first life, and how Zanth corrupted me the first time. I was too weak to stop it then, just as I was too weak now." Her head came up. "But through the things you helped me remember, I also recalled my pledge that day. My sword is meant to serve and protect, not to destroy."

Rein floated up and patted Signum on the head. "We are all weak by ourselves. But that's what friends are for, to protect us." She smiled. "Even hard-headed leaders need protecting!"

"Y-YOU-!" Both girls were interrupted and drawn to where Zanth lay... or perhaps a better term would have been 'melting.' Already, his legs had dissolved into a partial black bubbling puddle, while his torso sported a giant hole.

Signum limped her way over to him, sword in her right hand, her left hand holding onto her bloody right side. "It looks like your time is up."

He forced a laugh, coughing up black blood. "You can't kill me. I told that brat before, that I am immortal in here." He grinned as his torso joined the puddle. "I will be back...."

The Belkan Warrior snarled and sliced Levantine down, but his head disappeared into the puddle a split second before the sword made contact, clanging onto the floor instead.

Rein floated beside Signum, placing her hand on the bigger woman's cheek, then initiated a unison to help heal her injuries. "[Let's get out of here for now and talk with the others.]"

Signum closed her eyes as white light engulfed her body. "Ah..."

x~~*~~x

"You really overdid it," Hayate scolded them like an overprotective parent. "Do you know how worried I was for both of you!?"

"I am sorry," Signum replied, her armor mostly removed as Shamal continued to treat her wounds. The Belkan Knight's slight smile indicated something else, however.

"Me, too," Rein added, back in her jar.

A little demon floated over her master. "I'm just upset you had all this action without me. I would have smacked you back to yourself much faster than the other twerp. Geez." She seemed unnerved by the look on Signum's face. "What!?"

"Agito...." To the surprise of all, Signum smiled and hugged the little winged girl to her chest tightly.

"Mmmrph!" Agito replied intelligently, then managed to pull herself free. "What the hell was that about!?"

Signum just continued to smile. "I shall tell you another day."

"Shari, what's the word?" Vita asked to change the subject, coming over to stand near her workstation.

"I can't find any trace of this 'Zanth Le Ronne' as you call him," the technician replied, bringing up various screens of data. "I still think he's some sort of virus, and you hurt it badly. I'm guessing he's hiding somewhere for now to rebuild his strength."

Hayate leafed through the book. "I remember what Clarius told me. Zanth could be still in this book, but I've been through all the pages, and I can't find anything out of the ordinary. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to find him."

"I can," Zafira spoke up for the first time since this all began. He stood up and walked over to Hayate. "I'm a wolf; I can track anything with the proper scent."

"It's not that simple, Zafira," Shari told him, sighing. "He's a magical computer virus, hidden somewhere within either Rein's subconscious and/or the Tome of the Night Sky. I don't think you can track those, nor do I think he has any kind of scent."

Zafira was adamant. "Everything has a scent."

"The two times you've encountered him so far, were because he wanted to be found," Shamal stated. "It won't be so easy this time, especially since he knows we're onto him."

"If I can contact Clarius again, he might have a way," Rein offered.

Zafira switched to his human form. "Then it's settled, I will go with Rein."

"If you find him, save him for me," Vita told him evenly, slamming her hammer into her hand to accentuate the point. "I'll make him wish he had died all those years ago."

The guardian beast bowed. "When I find where he is hiding, I swear I will point you straight to him." He went to the table and lay down. "I am ready, if Rein is."

The small girl nodded, floating over to him.

"Just a moment, Zafira and Rein," Shari called, tapping away furiously on her keyboard. "I'm uploading a special marker program to Rein. If you can find Zanth's hiding place, or chase him to it, we should be able to track it out here. I'm also going to hook you up to the book. Theoretically, your mental states should be able to enter it as easily as your dream worlds."

"Understood," the Guardian Beast and the Unison Device said as one.

When Shari and Shamal gave them the nod, the two united, and allowed themselves to drift off to sleep.

x~~*~~x

"[I almost didn't think this was going to work,]" Rein sent to him, as they descended through a void, past various images, pictures and scenery. "[I've never unisoned with you or Shamal before.]"

"[Me either,]" Zafira replied, amused. "[It's interesting. Hold on, I am going to try something.]" Concentrating, Zafira shifted to his wolf form, pleased that he had control over that. "[I function better this way, since it is my true form. I had to see if we could remain in unison during it.]"

"[This is so cool!]" Rein nearly squealed. "[The way this feels on all fours, and the way you see and hear things; it's all so different!]"

Zafira chuckled, then he turned more serious. "[Alright, we should get started. I've been getting used to the scents around here, and the scents you carry. I've sorted out the one unique scent I've haven't been able to identify yet, so that should be him.]"

"[Wait!]" Rein stopped him. "[I think we should try to talk to Clarius first. I don't want what happened to Signum, to happen to you, too. Do you remember your first life and encounter with Zanth?]"

The Guardian Beast shook his head. "[No, but I've never believed it important. All that matters is how I may serve the master of the Tome of the Night Sky; our Lady Hayate.]"

"[Please, let's just talk to him first?]" Rein pleaded, and exhaled in relief when he acceded. She focused her thoughts on a wider range. "[Clarius? Can you hear me?]"

There was a minute of pause, and then, "[I am glad to see you are well, little one. I sense you wish to talk. Have you and your Guardian Beast close your eyes. I will guide you to my sanctum.]"

The two did as instructed, and descended.

x~~*~~x

Another pair of eyes watched the wolf-beast move between two images and then get swallowed up by the darkness. A voice belonging to the eyes let out a low, pleased laughter.

x~~*~~x

"They disappeared!" Shari exclaimed suddenly.

Shamal looked up from her medical readings. "What? Where?"

Shari exhaled in frustration. "I don't know. The tracking program had them, and then it just lost the signal." She looked up, meeting Shamal's, Signum's, and Vita's faces. "Wherever they are, they are on their own."

The group turned their gaze to the sleeping form on the table.

x~~*~~x

"Welcome to my humble abode, you two."

Rein floated over to hug the old man. "Oops, I'm sorry, I just feel close to you for some reason."

He chuckled. "It's understandable. You carry a small part of the original keeper of the tome, the one your current master renamed Reinforce." He turned to the wolf. "And it is good to see you again, Noble Beast."

Zafira switched to human form. "I am sorry, but I do not remember you."

Clarius nodded, sitting back in his chair. "That is to be expected. You have had many lifetimes, and mortal beings were not meant to carry so many memories. However, your first lives should always be remembered. That is part of my function; the original Clarius left me behind as a backup. He chose each of the guardian knights due to the righteousness in their hearts as the ultimate protection for the knowledge in the Tome. And should they become corrupted, to restore them."

"Then why didn't you?" Rein wondered aloud. "The book was corrupted for a long time."

"Zanth was more devious and powerful then Clarius suspected," the old man told them, looking tired. "He changed the name to the Book of Darkness and separated the guardian knight programs from it temporarily. After their corruption, he wiped the book's memory, then reattached them. I barely managed to protect myself and hide. His magical protection programs roamed out there; had I acted and revealed myself, I would have been destroyed, and there would have been no hope.

He rubbed his eyes. "And then Hayate came along, restoring your emotions and renaming the book. Even if you didn't have your original memories, you were returning to who you were. I felt that was good enough. I didn't see that Zanth had managed to hide in the book itself." He pointed his cane at Zafira. "But if you are to confront him, you must relearn who you are. He knows you, all of the guardian knights. Facing him without your original memories would leave you vulnerable. Even your they may not be enough, however."

"If they will help, then I stand ready to receive them," Zafira informed him, bowing to one knee.

"It's not that easy," Clarius replied. "Hayate, subconsciously, has managed to start the process of separation for the knight system. Her wish that you become real again has been granted. And while this means the book will end it's existence when Hayate dies, I have come to believe it's for the best. Such an accumulation of magical knowledge is too risky, too tempting, to have in one place. Rein."

The little girl floated closer. "Yes?"

"Rein still has a strong link to the book, and so I can download your memories into her, and then she can pass them onto you," he explained. "Are you ready?"

At her firm nod, Clarius began the second transfer, data rolling across Rein's temporarily blank eyes. As the process was completed, he collapsed back into his chair, suddenly looking very old and tired.

Rein blinked her eyes, looking down at the old man. "Are you alright?"

He smiled and warded her off. "Just takes a bit out of me. I'll be fine in awhile. You go ahead and transfer them to Zafira."

"I don't think that's a good idea!"

Zafira twisted around and went into wolf-form. "Look out!"

The Guardian Beast roared and white spikes shot up from the ground, but the black ooze that erupted from the fireplace merely flowed around it. Rein barely had time to throw up her hands in a hastily cast barrier spell, before it engulfed her and Clarius. Zafira g and dove towards Rein's last known location, swiping with his claws and biting with his teeth to get the ooze off her. Part of the ooze formed a tentacle and smacked the beast halfway across the room.

"I'm sorry, we can't have that," the voice came again, this time forming half a face in the large blob. "It's good to see you again, old friend. You may not remember me, but I'm your old master, Zanth Le Ronne."

Zafira dragged himself to his feet, growling. "I don't care who you are. But you will let them go or I will tear you to pieces."

Zanth laughed. "You can't do anything to me in this form. And now I have reclaimed the girl, and captured that pesky old man's last program. I knew she couldn't have broken my control over Signum by herself; she had to have had help. And this little pocket is such a marvelous hiding spot; I never knew it was here!"

"I am more powerful than you know," the Guardian Beast informed him in a threatening manner. But he knew Zanth was at least partially right; he couldn't attack indiscriminately, not while Rein was still in there somewhere. [I'll have to dig her out, but he also mentioned this place as a hiding spot; Can they detect us on the outside?]

Roaring at the top of his lungs, Zafira entrapped the blob in a cage of white spikes, but he didn't stop there. Pouring all his magic into it, the whole room began to shake, spikes erupting all over the place until the whole room fell apart. The spikes shattered then, destroying the hidden pocket and returning them all to the void of falling images.

Zanth destroyed his own cage and remarked sadly, "Well, there goes a perfectly good hideout. But I don't think you thought this through; I'm pitch black, and so is most of these surroundings!"

In an instant, they were no longer in the void, but in a forest clearing. "I had already realized that was going to be the case, so we will fight here."

The black blob looked around, and chuckled. "My, you guardian knights do love this place. When I broke each and every one of you, this was always the place you returned to in your mind. Your safe haven, before I destroyed it as well!"

Zafira roared and charged.

x~~*~~x

Rein awoke to the ebony void all around her, lit only by the soft glow of her nearby open book. Then she recalled casting the ice shell spell shortly before she was engulfed by the ebony blob. She was relieved to see it was still intact, protecting her from the flowing ooze all around her.

"Zafira!" she called suddenly in worry. "Clarius!"

"The old man can't hear you right now," Zanth's voice echoed around her. "But would you like to see your little doggy?"

Without waiting for an answer, Zanth projected a screen shown from his perspective. Several thin and sharp tentacles hung in view, hovering over Zafira, who had many red lashes covering his body. He was breathing hard, and Rein could see he was approaching his limit, yet he fought on.

"Did you know that breaking an animal is vastly similar to breaking a human?" Zanth told her matter-of-factly. "He's already beginning to react, the whips leading him, punishing him when he doesn't go where I want him to. I admit, he was harder to break than the other three. The loyalty of a dog is something."

"Stop it!" Rein cried, watching in helplessness as Zafira suffered more lashes, breaking some of the whips, only to have them reform. She grabbed her book. "I'll stop you!"

Zanth chuckled. "Are you sure you want to do that? You'll have to drop your barrier to cast a spell, and in that instant I'll have you. Then how will you save your precious pet?"

Rein froze, realizing he was right. She was fine for the moment as long as the book kept up the spell. She inhaled and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Zafira RUN!"

Outside, Zafira panted heavily, unable to hear Rein at all. He knew his attacks weren't getting anywhere; he really had no way of damaging an amorphous blob. But he knew there had to be a way, as he dodged one whip, blocked another with a shield, and cut several more with his fangs and claws.

But he didn't see the one that had tunneled underground and now broke out into the open to grab his tail, pulling him into the air and slamming him into the ground.

"Return to me and I will let the girl and the old man live," Zanth offered him. "I'll even guarantee that I won't hurt your current master, this Hayate girl."

The battered beast dragged himself to his feet once more. "Maybe, but I won't let you touch the rest of the knights. I know you want them, and I won't help you do that!"

The blob chuckled. "Give up, Zafira."

"_...give up, Zafira," a female voice said._

He shook his head.

"You're yesterday's product, obsolete!" Zanth continued.

"_...we're obsolete to them, yesterday's product," another one said._

Zafira's head dropped, eyes shut tight for a moment, as the memory flashed in his head. [I have to focus. There has to be a way!]

The whips came in again, slashing at his legs, body, and head. Zafira endured it as long as he could, then his legs could no longer support his weight and he fell to the ground.

Zanth paused. "Is that all you have? I remember you lasting longer the first time. Have you given up?"

"Don't... hurt.. the others..." he panted, coughing up blood.

"Your loyalty is quite impressive," Zanth complimented him. "Maybe I might see fit to spare some, if you come with me." The black tentacles wrapped themselves around his body, pulling him into his amorphous body. "And you can continue to protect Rein under my care. You will be her shield, and my fang."

"_We are their fangs and shields!" he shouted back at the orange-haired familiar._

"Rein...." Zafira whispered as his limp body was absorbed.

"I have her, right here."

"Zafira!" Rein cried, her spherical ice bubble drifting into view. "Don't give up, Zafira!"

"I am sorry...." the battered wolf replied, eyes closing.

"No!" Rein shouted, spreading out her arms and legs, her bubble changing form to mimic her, her head orienting on her target.

Before Zanth could realize what she had planned, Rein collapsed her arms to her sides and closed her legs. The bubble changed form to more like a thin bullet as Rein half-swam and half-tunneled at magic-enhanced speeds, striking Zafira on the cheek.

The bubble popped so that she could touch him, as she shouted, "Remember!"

x~~*~~x

"_Zafira, did you hear the news?" Hayden the griffin told him as the wolf walked into the Guardian Beast barracks. "Our unit is being deactivated. We are being disbanded. We are no longer needed."_

_He had heard. "We are still loyal to our masters and will serve in any capacity they need us for."_

"_Oh, give up, Zafira," a female voice told him. "Blind loyalty while we're being used and then tossed aside like animals is naïve, even for you."_

_He looked up as Ranna descended, shifting from her large bat form to human form, her long black hair unfurling. Her words did have a mark of truth, which stung._

"_T-That's not all!" came a new voice from the dark corner that he recognized as Theevus the rat. "I heard about the new weapons! Powerful technology-based ones, with the ability to level cities at a time. No magic needed!"_

_Information and spying was his specialty; Zafira knew Theevus's information was always accurate. All the battles the Guardian Beast unit had won, and all the operations they had completed successfully... did it mean nothing to their masters?_

"_Figures, we're obsolete to them, yesterday's product," Jerin, a gargoyle, commented darkly._

"_And there's more!" Theevus added nervously, getting the attention of all in the room. He was always the cowardly type, but his fear this time was very evidently real. "We are to be destroyed, and our magic reclaimed!"_

"_This goes too far!" Hayden shouted, other Guardian Beasts echoing his sentiment._

_A deep snarl sounded from the corner of the room. "Indeed it does, noble Hayden. I think it is time to remind the humans of our power."_

_Zafira watched the mighty Serpentine Dragon uncoil himself, head lifting to hover over all of them. "Ghan, what are you planning?"_

"_We will strike and crush our would-be overlords," the dragon roared. "It is time we became our own masters."_

_Other beasts joined in the call, but Zafira shouted, "No! If we attack them, we are no better than they are! I say we just leave and form our own community." To his comfort, he saw several of the beasts nodding, including Ranna. He knew he could always count on her to support him._

"_They will never let us go," Ghan countered. "They gave us life, and feel that they own us! How do you propose we get away safely?"_

_Zafira grinned. "I have made a contact in one of the foot soldier units. We are not the only ones who are being sidelined by this weapon development. I plan to meet with her this evening; we can escape later tonight."_

_Ghan's face came down to stare the in the wolf's own. "You have tonight, then, Zafira. If you fail, we do it my way."_

_x~~*~~x_

"_Can you do it, then?" Zafira asked the figure under cover of dark, in an empty section of town. Above them, the Belkan fortress kept watch silently._

"_Of course I can," the female voice came from under the hood. "Provided your rat's intel is correct."_

"_Theevus is always correct," Zafira replied._

"_Then as we agreed, you help escort my people out as well," she stated, lifting her mallet with both hands. "And I will take care of the weapons and provide enough of a distraction for us to escape!"_

_An explosion echoed on a far parapet of the fortress, then a siren sounded, startling both figures. "What's going on?"_

"_I don't know, but we'll have to take our chance now," the hooded girl told him, leaping to a roof top._

"_Agreed!" Zafira called after her, then sprinted back to the barracks. He had a bad feeling in his gut._

"_Zafira!" Ranna called to him as he entered. "Ghan took most of the beasts to attack the fortress!"_

_The wolf growled in anger, the nearly empty barracks confirming the truth of her statement. Only a couple others remained. "Theevus, Hayden, Ranna, why did you stay behind?"_

"_I'm not much of a fighter, heh heh," Theevus admitted._

_Hayden stood and spread his wings. "Ghan's words rang true to me, but so did yours. I do not wish to become like the humans."_

_Ranna knelt down and wrapped her arms around Zafira's mane. "And you know me; I couldn't go anywhere without you."_

"_Thank you," he told them all. "But we have work to do. My contact is starting her portion of the plan. Theevus, you go ahead and escape. Ranna, Hayden and I will round up as many beasts as we can. We need to escape."_

_The rat locked gazes with the wolf, and nodded in thanks. He wasn't a fighter, and asking this of him was too much. He scampered out his hole and disappeared._

_The remaining three beasts took to the skies towards the fortress. In the distance, they could see Ghan had expanded his size to max, wrapping himself around one of the larger inner parapet's, and filling the inner sanctum with fire._

"_Spread out!" Zafira told the other two. "Grab who you can, then meet outside the city in our training area in 30 minutes!"_

_Hayden and Ranna nodded, the latter of the two fixing him with a gentle look even in bat form. The three split up._

_x~~*~~x_

_The battle did not go well, as Zafira had feared. The royal guards had counterattacked, using new projectile mass weapons, which didn't require any magic. Many of the beasts had already been cut down, including Ghan. Zafira had fought through to him, but couldn't save him. In his last moments, the great dragon telepathically sent three words: "[You were right.]"_

_Zafira had only managed to extract four of his brethren; Four out of a hundred. Ranna had found five, but Hayden hadn't returned at all. In a surprising move, three more had shown up, being told by Theevus, who had died in the escape. None of them would ever question the rat's bravery again._

_The 14 beasts provided cover for the group of retreating humans from Zafira's contact's squad, and their families, and parted ways a good distance away from the castle. The beasts had fulfilled their contract and wanted nothing more to do with humans._

_But the saint's army wanted revenge, and caught up with them the next morning using strange new flying vehicles. The badly outnumbered group of beasts fought, but were overpowered. In the last moments, a badly-injured Ranna bound Zafira and used her illusion magic to hide him. The magic wore off after the humans left._

"_Why!?" Zafira begged to know in human form, cradling a bloody human-form Ranna in his arms. "Why did you do it?"_

_She reached up to touch his cheek. "You are destined for something greater. One of us had to live to carry on the story of the Guardian Beasts. I will always love you, Zafira, but you must live! Please, for me, LIVE!"_

_Her arm dropped limply and her eyes closed. Zafira's cried her name, his shout devolving into a howl._

x~~*~~x

Author's notes:

Zafira; so underused. But he's a male, and thus his role is generally minimal. ;_;


	4. Hippocratic Oath

**Recollections of a Lost Age**

**Chapter 4: Hippocratic Oath**

Xx~~*~~xX

_Despite her words, Zafira wanted revenge. But after he buried her and before he could leave the area, he found a man watching him._

_"Noble Beast, what do you seek?" he asked._

_"Out of my way!" Zafira demanded. "I go to get revenge on the humans!"_

_"You would throw away the life she gave you?" he asked._

_Zafira snarled. "She is dead. My kind is dead. If I die, I go to join them!" He began to walk past the man._

_"Then you aren't the Noble Beast that she believed you to be," the man told him._

_"I don't want to hear that from a human!" the wolf accused._

_"I may be just a human, but I aim to be more," he explained, bringing out a book. "In this, will be the recorded history of magic. Join me. The history of the Guardian Beasts will be continued with you, so that it will never be forgotten. I need righteous guardians to safeguard it's knowledge. Live to tell the tale of the mighty Guardian Beasts, and protect those from going through what your race has."_

_The words rung in his mind. Ranna had told him the same thing; to live. He locked eyes with the man for a long moment. He knew what his decision must be; his own words coming back to him. [I will not be like the humans.]_

_"I will join you. I will live, and I will protect."_

x~~*~~x

Zafira's eyes snapped open. He wouldn't be defeated here. He wouldn't let Rein's, or Ranna's, sacrifice be in vain.

Grabbing her lightly in his teeth as the little girl succumbed to Zanth's ooze, he roared once more. From outside, a large white spike erupted at a 45 degree angle, piercing the amorphous body of his enemy. Zafira braced himself as the spike impacted the small amount of barrier magic protecting his body, pushing both him and Rein through and out the other side.

They were free.

x~~*~~x

Rein shook off the effects as Zafira brought her clear, forming a small vortex and floater field to catch the falling Guardian Beast. Zanth howled in anger while Rein quickly checked Zafira, confirming he was still alive.

She turned to the fluctuating blob. "You won't hurt my friends anymore!" Her magic symbol flared underneath her. "Maidens of ice and the four winds, gather unto me and let our power thwart the unworthy! Chaotic Blizzard!"

Thrusting both hands forward, a powerful force of wind and sleat blasted the blob, rapidly burying it in snow while freezing the rest of it solid.

"If you..." Zanth started to say, "destroy this form... you'll only kill the old man! I will be reborn!"

"I'm not going to destroy you," Rein told him, advancing towards him, increasing the blast of snow and ice. "I'm going to put you on ice and then dissect you. Then I'll melt you and freeze you and repeat the process, over and over! You love torturing my friends, so I'm going to do the same to you!"

Zanth howled again as the blob froze solid and only then did Rein allow the spell to subside, but after a few moments, the outer shell of the blob shattered, revealing emptiness inside. Flying over the snow, Rein saw that Zanth has sacrificed his outer layer to drill underground; he had escaped. Sighing in frustration, she returned to Zafira, surprised to see him standing again.

"As expected of Reinforce Zwei, master of the Tome of the Azure Sky," he told her, smiling as only a wolf could, then coughed up blood.

"Zafira!" she hugged him as best she could. "We need to get you out of here and get those wounds looked at."

"A Guardian Beast is tougher than a human," he told her. "And we have a job to finish! Hang on!"

She grabbed onto his mane as he leapt down the hole.

x~~*~~x

"Got it!" Shari exclaimed.

"The block is gone, bringing them out now!" Shamal replied, severing the unison and administering medical treatment to wake the pair.

Rein's and Zafira's eyes snapped open.

Hayate smiled in relief, hugging Zafira and smiling at Rein. "Welcome back you two..."

x~~*~~x

"So did it work?" Zafira asked in wolf form as Shamal busied herself patching him up.

Hayate nodded, sighing in relief. "I wanted to bring you out earlier, but Signum held me back. At the last moment there, you succeeded in tracking him back to the book." She held up the Tome and lifted a page. "You can't see it, but there's an invisible page stuck to this one. That's why we couldn't find it earlier."

"Then you can remove it now?" he inquired.

The mistress of the Night Sky shook her head. "Not quite."

"This Zanth program has hooks into different pages," Shari explained. "Just pulling it out would cause a lot of damage, both to Rein and probably to Hayate, too, since they they both have connections to the book."

"So how do we get him out?" Signum asked.

"I've been working on that," Shari answered her, not looking up from her screen. "I've got enough data on him now that I think I can come up with an anti-virus program. If you can administer it to him in his hideout inside the page, he's amorphous nature will solidify; he'll be stuck in one form and unable to leave parts of himself around as hooks. Then it's just a matter of getting him to separate himself from the book."

"Then we can destroy him," Vita stated, catching on. "But how do we get him to voluntarily leave the Tome?"

"We give him what he wants," Hayate said, grinning almost evilly. "A way out and a body of his own."

x~~*~~x

"[This certainly is fascinating,]" Shamal told Rein as the unisoned pair descended into the dreamscape of Rein's mind. "[But now I see how Hayate, Signum, and Vita feel when they unison with you.]"

"[Are you okay with this?]" Rein asked.

Shamal half-smiled. "[Part of me would have rather let Vita go; I know she really wanted to. But only Klarer Wind can upload the virus, being a support type, vs. the Combat type of Graf Eisen. If this goes according to plan, I should be okay.]"

"[And we'll get Clarius out, too,]" Rein added.

The Wolkenritter support mage kissed her right hand rings, then held her hand out. "Klarer Wind, please guide me."

"Ja, Pendul form," the device replied, both jewels floating out of their ring sockets, connected by thin lines. They weaved back and forth a few times, then settled into pointing one direction. The pair took off.

x~~*~~x

"That old man continues to surprise me even now," Zanth said, now back in somewhat of a human form. "To think he hid a program like you in in there, all these years."

Clarius winced as the three black tentacles probed his mind, holding him against the stone wall. "You can relay your feelings in person, when the knights send you to meet him."

Zanth withdrew the mental probes, causing the old man to drop to the ground. "I see you inherited his spirit. I'll keep you alive until I can figure out the extent of your programming, and whether there are any more surprises waiting for me." He turned and started to walk away.

"I have some of his memories, you know," Clarius informed him. "You were his favorite pupil once upon a time; you might have even inherited the Tome naturally. You didn't need to resort to these measures."

"Ha!" Zanth barked, but pausing in his step. "The old man was scared of my power, that's why he denied me! But I showed him. I put myself into a suspended sleep, waiting for him to die and the Tome to reincarnate a few times. And then I made it my own." He whirled around to face the Clarius-program. "His protections were good, but I was better. I made what was his, into mine. I became part of the book itself, waiting for the day when the ultimate magics would be discovered, consuming each master of the book. When the time was right, I'd re-emerge, truly immortal."

"Immortality is not what it's cracked up to be," the old man said quietly. "What matters is what you do with your life while you're alive."

"If we go by that, Clarius wasn't worth much," Zanth shot back, then turned his back. "And now if you'll excuse me, I have a couple of guests coming, though I am surprised by who they sent this time. I was expecting the knight or the hammer brat. They must have something planned, and I need to prepare for it."

Clarius watched him dissolve and his cell door slam shut. He hoped the faith that the original Clarius had put in these Guardian Knights was well placed, but something bothered him; there was something not quite right with Zanth, but he couldn't figure it out.

x~~*~~x

"[This is it?]" Shamal asked. "[I was expecting something... grander. Or at least bigger.]"

A stone complex spread out before them, about the same size as the Hotel Augusta they defended so long ago. It was even nestled into a forest on a hillside in the same manner, and although the sky was a bit dark and crackled with occasional thunder, it didn't seem too threatening overall. Still, they both realized one wouldn't normally stumble upon this unless one was actively looking; the entrance to the area was hidden quite well.

Shamal landed them a decent distance away to head in on foot, to hopefully allow them a more stealthy approach.

"[Well, it's big enough that, with any luck, we can surprise Zanth and find the Clarius program,]" Rein replied.

Shamal agreed, and two made their way closer to the complex. Rather than go through a door, they opted to enter via one of the open second story windows. It wasn't much of a window, just a square cut in the side of the building, with no shades or blinds or glass to protect it.

"[If we split up to search, this will go faster,]" Shamal suggested. "[I'll go down to the first floor, and you can search the second.]"

The other girl agreed and canceled the unison, then split up.

Shamal found a stairway leading down fairly fast and began her search. She was surprised at how few rooms there actually were. Most were boarded up, or caved in. But still, it wasn't a quick process, and she was beginning to wonder if there was a better way. Klarer Wind's sensors couldn't pick up anything here, for some reason, which made it extra tedious.

She sighed as she turned a corner after making sure it was clear, then stopped as she heard a low moan. Narrowing her eyes, she quickly and quietly traversed the hall, stopping outside one open doorway. The moan sounded, along with the sounds of chains scrapping along a floor. Poking her head around corner revealed an elderly man in a ragged gray robe, clad in chains behind a cell door.

The doctor in her overpowered her caution, and she stepped into the room. "Are you alright? You're Clarius, aren't you?" She had heard the descriptions from Hayate, Zafiras and Rein, including how he had been taken by Zanth.

He raised his head, surprise in his eyes. "An old program of his, yes. Young lady... you are Shamal, are you not?"

She nodded, using Klarer Wind to unlock and open the cell. "I'll have you out of there in a moment." She began working on his shackles.

"Thank you," he replied as his shackles were undone and she helped him up. "Thank you very much indeed, my dear doctor."

Shamal's eyes widened as he grabbed her face, the old man's body morphing into Zanth's. She grabbed his wrists, but all resistance ceased as images were forcibly downloaded into her mind.

x~~*~~x

_"We have two more bodies for you," Zanth informed her, amused, as Signum carried them in under each arm._

_"Excellent," Shamal replied, wiping the blood off one of her medical tools. "The last batch didn't hold up too well."_

_"I tried to make sure these two were mostly intact," Signum informed her, putting them up on the examination tables. "Vita has a bad habit of crushing her targets, rendering them useless."_

_"She does have enthusiasm, " Zanth admitted. "Still, I'll talk to her. Research before pleasure."_

_Shamal strapped down the first victim, a weeping young girl of 18 or 20 she guessed. "Now now, it'll be all over in a bit. I need to extract and experiment on your linker core. Once I perfect this process, I'll be able to add limitless power to the Book of Darkness. I'm sure our master will reward you if your contribution is what pushes me to success... if you live."_

_The girl screamed as Shamal pushed two spikes into her upper chest, interfacing with her linker core. Wires trailed from the spikes, running to a computer; data began to scroll across the screens. The drain __had begun._

x~~*~~x

"No, stop," Shamal begged, on her knees, her eyes blank as she relived those days. "I don't want to be a part of that anymore!"

"But you did so much good back then," Zanth soothed. "You perfected your Linker Core Drain technique. There was no longer any need to indirectly add a mage's spells to a book; we could just pull their core out!"

Tears leaked from her eyes as the memories were forced back into her. Her light green knight armor began to ripple.

x~~*~~x

*Thunk!* *Thunk!* *Thunk!*

Zanth looked down at the three ice spikes protruding from his right side, then over at the small girl glaring angrily at him, eight more sharp ice shards floating around her.

Rein stated her sole demand. "Let. Her. Go."

"And what if I-" he started to say, only to be cut off by multiple small ice daggers impacting his body from all sides, which was then followed up by the eight larger ice shards.

Zanth coughed up blood as he stumbled back, releasing Shamal who fell back on her haunches. He threw out several black bolts of magic but Rein dodged and blocked with barriers, then returned the assault ten fold, her vision tainted red. This was the the source of her pain; not only had he messed her with mind, but with her family as well.

But the black wizard wasn't going quietly, as he got his defense up and began to move. His body rippled as he returned to his semi-amorphous state, managing to expel the projectiles Rein was stuffing him with. He was rapidly becoming a literal pin cushion.

"Why can't you just leave us alone!" Rein yelled at him, forming several dozen more ice daggers. "I-"

She found her voice suddenly cut off from a line wrapped around her throat, as several more binding wires wrapped themselves around her body from behind, pinning her arms to her side. The sudden assault caused her formed ice daggers to fizzle.

"Excellent work, my dear," Zanth said, recovering from the damage.

Wide-eyed, Rein turned her head a bit to stare at a smiling Shamal, who walked into the smaller girl's field of view. She had both hands out, the lines from Klar Wind's pendulums being the source of Rein's binds. But what was most striking, is that Shamal's knight armor was gone, leaving just the black outfit she had initially emerged with.

"Sha... mal... why?" Rein gasped out, her vision clouding.

Never had Rein seen such a smile on Shamal's face as the Belkan doctor came to stand next to Zanth, lovingly embracing him from the left side, her left hand on his chest. "He reminded me what fun it was to experiment. I did some of my best work with his assistance."

"Indeed you did," Zanth agreed, then nodded his head toward the bound Rein. "And now I have a new task for you: dissect that unison device."

Rein lifted her hand a bit, focusing her magic as best as she could, as she might only have one chance at this before everything was lost. Her eyesight was blurring and it became harder to concentrate, but she just needed a bit more time. As her vision began fading completely, she wondered if what she had done was enough.

Her world went black.

x~~*~~x

She didn't know how long she had been out, as she slowly regained consciousness to a painful pounding inside her brain. Was she back in the real world, or still inside Zanth's hideout inside the world of the book? Almost fearfully, she slowly opened her eyes.

"Have you found a method yet, then?" Zanth was saying, confirming Rein's fears that she was still trapped in the book.

"I believe so," Shamal replied, looking over several holographic screens. "Reinforce Zwei was merely a bare-bones personality overlay from the original Reinforce, onto a unison device architecture. There's a bit more to it, and she's developed differently from the original, but the some of the same hooks are still present. We should be able to download your consciousness into the device once all the personality files are deleted."

Rein's eyes widened in dread as she strained against the green magical threads of Shamal's bind spell holding her down on the small examination table; their fears were true: Zanth was trying to take over her body to get out of the book. But why now after all this time?

"Excellent!" he praised her. "Too long have I been trapped in here. But now I shall escape and become the full master of the book using this device for my new body!" He paused, glancing at the doctor. "What seems to be the matter?"

Shamal was holding her head, then shook it. "I-I'm not sure. I keep getting the impression I'm forgetting something important. Some memory or something."

Zanth waved his hand dismissively. "Pay it no heed, my dear. Those memories are no longer important. Just focus on your work; we shall once again make beautiful music together!"

Rein's eyes bulged in shock as he gently turned Shamal's chin towards him, and she smiled and closed her eyes as his head lowering, their lips meeting for a passionate kiss. As they separated, Shamal's eyes seemed full of adoration and longing, but she noticed Rein's movements out of the corner of her eye and turned.

"The subject has partially recovered," she said, frowning. "I thought I gave her enough anesthesia to keep her out for awhile." She walked over, raising her right hand to activate Klarer Wind, one of the blue jewels detaching and beginning to probe Rein's body.

Zanth came up alongside her, watching with fascination and glee. "Don't fight it, my dear. The erasure of your personality will be painless, and then you won't be around to care what happens."

Rein trembled in pain, crying out as the jewel sank partway into her chest. [I have to hold on, just a bit more. I can't give up, or Shamal, and Hayate, and everyone else will suffer because of me!] She cracked an eye open, looking up, hoping that things had developed far enough now. Even if they hadn't, she no longer had a choice; she might not get another chance.

"What are you doing?" Zanth demanded to know, looking closer. "You seem to be up to something."

Rein smiled grimly through the pain, fighting the dulling effects of the anesthesia and the attempts at wiping her personality files. "You're about to find out."

The pointed, icy stalactites that had been forming on the high ceiling, started to detach as Rein focused with all her mind and magic, pulling them in her direction. It was her last spell before she passed out, to begin forming them, hoping that the pair would not notice or dismiss them as inconsequential due to her heavy ice spell usage before her capture.

But they rained down now, Zanth and Shamal realizing at the last moment that things were heading towards them. Klared Wind was retracted as the pair dodged away from the table and each other, and Rein shut her eyes as the spikes landed all around her, destroying the examination table and freeing her. She flew with all her remaining strength towards Shamal, her eyes and body feeling heavy and wanting to sleep, but she fought it; she had one more task to complete.

Shamal was slowly picking herself back up as Rein flew into her face and kissed her forehead. Her eyes widened, as the memory download began.

x~~*~~x

_She was initially a doctor for the Belkan royalty, helping to save many lives. Her own research specialized in healing and analyzing linker cores, and thus helping people regain the use of their magic after traumatic injuries. She even discovered a way to partially extract a linker core to operate on it as part of a medical procedure, and thus she became famous._

_But the tides of war were building, and notice was taken of research, and she was eventually ordered to develop a weapon based on it, preferably something on a mass scale. The idea of destroying an enemy's magical capabilities appealed to the Belkan King, even as they rebuilt their own kinetic weapons. She didn't want to, horrified that her research to help people was going to be used to harm instead, and so she went against the order, but she was told that if they couldn't destroy a person's magic, they would have to kill the person instead; her research would still help save lives if she cooperated. If she didn't, many more would die that didn't have to._

_She had heard the talk for many months now, about the plans to unify the various planets under Belkan leadership once more. Belka had been a powerful empire once before, spanning multiple planets, but the warring ages destroyed most of it, including the Belkan home planet. The last of the civilization __rebuilt itself, and now it was once again one of the most powerful of the planets and the most prosperous; a superpower with regards to magic and emerging technologies, and none of the other planets could stand against it, individually. It had increasingly played the role of universe police, sending it's armies all over to establish bases and invade smaller nations under the guise of liberation._

_If most of them united, it might have been possible to resist, but various non-aggression treaties and alliance pacts had been signed; Belka was poised to take over the universe once more, both through the strength of it's armies, and through the strength of its economy._

_Shamal initially cooperated in order to lessen the loss of life that was to come, but she eventually remembered why she became a doctor, and the oath she had taken upon the completion of her training so long ago; every doctor's creed, both officially and unofficially:_

_Do No Harm._

_A doctor saves lives and repairs them; they do not take them nor damage them._

_In anger and disgust of what she was about to do, Shamal made plans to destroy all traces of her research, but once she carried out the actual destruction she knew she probably wouldn't live long; she needed to escape._

_Fortunately, a chance came, when she received word that the Guardian Beasts were attacking the castle. She initiated the destruction and fled, passing a short knight in the hallways, who told her to take refuge with one of the army units that was deserting, along with their families. She was surprised to learn that she wasn't the only one fed up with the way things were going; the army unit and the Guardian Beasts were fed up as well and were fleeing, too. After a brief meet up far away from the castle, the humans and the beasts parted ways in peace, but Shamal slipped away from them in the night; she couldn't afford to have them realize who she was._

_The doctor was famous in the medical community throughout many worlds because of her research, and if any of the other governments learned of her, they might force her to make her weapons as well. She had forbidden knowledge in her mind that no one else could ever access. But where would she go? What would she do?_

_Alone, she felt it was only a matter of time before she was used, and thus only one route left to her, to ensure the knowledge was secure; she stood at the precipice of a deep canyon, preparing to throw herself in._

_"Why does such a lovely young woman appear eager to end her own life?" a gentle male voice inquired._

_Shamal backed up to the edge, afraid. "It is for the good of all. Who are you?"_

_The elderly man in faded blue robes rested himself on a nearby rock. "I am a simple sage, traveling the land. There are dark times ahead, and I seek to protect vital knowledge, in the hope that one day it will help to lead the land out of darkness and back into the light. But I will not live long enough to see that day, so I seek guardians for my Tome of the Night Sky, so named because of the long night that is coming. They will guard that knowledge, and find new masters worthy of wielding it._

_He opened the book, and a ghostly male and female figure appeared beside him. I have am Honorable Knight and a Noble Guardian Beast so far, but they could use a doctor of strong ethical and moral standards to support them. What say you?"_

_She didn't want to die, she realized, and her research could be used to save lives and thus probably should not be totally lost; just locked away until it could be safely used._

_She agreed, as within the book, she vowed her skills or knowledge wouldn't be used to harm anyone; just to save them._

x~~*~~x

Shamal returned to the present, catching the falling Rein in her lap, who gazed helplessly up at the doctor, and then closed her eyes in sleep.

"Good work, my dear," Zanth told her, relieved. "You caught her before she could escape. She almost got us with those ice spikes, so we'll have to be more careful about keeping her sedated until the transference is complete."

Her eyes focused on him, and she smiled. "Yes. We should resume at once, master."

x~~*~~x

Author's Notes:

Two more chapters to go. I hope the picture of Ancient Belka is coming into focus, or at least my version of it. I've tried matching it up a bit to what we know, but there is probably a few inconsistencies. Next up is Vita's part, Chapter 5: Nothing They Can't Destroy. And I think quite a few surprises are in store.


	5. Nothing They Can't Destroy

**Recollections of a Lost Age**

**Chapter 5: Nothing They Can't Destroy**

Xx~~*~~xX

Shamal took the offered hand, letting Zanth pull her to her feet, her other hand still holding the sleeping Rein. "Thank you, master."

"My pleasure, my dear," he told her, smile widening as he kissed her hand. "Can we begin the mental exchange yet?"

"I believe so," the doctor replied, looking down at the unconscious body she was holding, then at her rings on the other hand. "Klarer Wind."

The jewels on her left hand emerged, wrapping their thin green lines around Rein and embedding themselves within her body. The two on her right hand extended to float in front of Zanth, then buried themselves in his chest.

"Begin download," Shamal commanded, the edges of her lips turning upward ever-so-slightly.

"Yes, I feel it!" Zanth acclaimed in exhilaration. "Soon, I shall have... wait a minute, something is wrong. Shamal, what are you..." He paused, noting the look her face.

"It's time you left, _master_," Shamal told him, pronouncing the title with disdain and venom. "For hurting Rein, for hurting my family, and for forcing me to do this... Thanks to her, I remembered my reason for being: to heal, and not to hurt. And in your case, I'm removing a virus that is making the host sick."

Zanth hissed, his body clearly breaking down as he took a deep breath. "You think you've beaten me? I have other ways; it just would have been easier to use you." He suddenly lurched forward and grabbed the unconscious Rein in Shamal's hand. "I can still transfer myself to her body; I'll just have to do some housecleaning after!"

"Let go of her!" Shamal demanded, trying to pull Rein away. Her rings' binds were still in place so he couldn't fully take her, but he only seemed to need contact. "Stop it!"

"This is it!" he cried triumphantly, as a bright white light engulfed them all.

x~~*~~x

Shamal blinked her eyes open. "Rein!"

"She's still unconscious," Hayate told her. "What happened?"

"It's Zanth, he's..." she started to say, then paused as a groan emanated from a shelf nearby.

"I'm freeeee!" the androgynous doll yelled in glee as it began to move, then found it's arms and body restricted by a bind spell. "What is this!? This isn't the Reinforce Unison device!"

"No, we gave you what you wanted: a body of your own," Hayate informed him in a grim tone. "That's one of the spare unison devices Shari constructed. We hooked it up to Klarer Wind and Rein, creating an alternate path for your consciousness which was clearly marked by Shari's retro-virus. You're out now, and can't harm anymore of my family."

"You think you're pretty clever, girl, but you really don't know the full secrets of the book," the doll told her, as the body began to ripple and shift. "There is much you are ignorant of, and much you willingly choose to not see."

Vita stepped up next to her mistress, Graf Eisen in hand. "That might be, but we don't need you around. I'm going to enjoy this."

The doll's eyes widened as Vita's large mallet went up, then began the downward arc. The unsion device body continued to ripple, changing, finally slipping out of the circular binds and flying away as the hammer struck, demolishing the shelf.

"Haha!" it laughed as it headed for the open door. "You're all idiots! Morons!"

"I'm goin' after it!" Vita declared angrily, flying out of the room after the target.

"I'm going to!" Agito added eagerly, also taking off after the pair.

"Not you, two!" Shamal ordered, seeing Signum and Zafira getting up. "You're still injured. I'm sure Vita and Agito can handle that unison device. If she runs into trouble, I'll see about letting you go."

The pair sighed and sat back down, knowing that Hayate would back up Shamal's assumption.

"Still, I should go as well," Hayate thought aloud. "Is the book okay? Can I take it?"

Shari nodded, tapping away on her holographic keyboard. "Just give me a second to close down all the connections I made, and end the search and analysis programs. It'll just take a minute or two."

Hayate nodded, sparing a glance out the door, placing her trust in those two.

x~~*~~x

"Nya nya, you can't catch me!" the androgynous doll taunted, dodging another of Vita's hammer strikes, it's body still rippling slightly as some features began to form, the first being red eyes.

The cat and mouse chase dropped low through the city, flying between buildings and over streets, as Vita sought to eliminate her prey without causing too much property damage. Still, if she could keep it occupied for a little longer...

"Shut up, you twit!" Vita shot back, creating four steel balls. "Graf Eisen!"

"_Schwalbe Fliegen!_" her hammer announced as she swung it, lancing all four on a collision course for the small doll.

The doll containing the Zanth program flew faster, trying to dodge as the red projectiles curved and came in at different angles. He slipped between two, then held out black triangular shields with each hand to block the other two, and Vita watched in surprise as the two crimson orbs literally dissolved.

Zanth dusted his hands and grinned. "You'll have to do better than that!"

"How about this!?" Agito called from above, an extremely large fireball in her hands. She grinned and heaved it downwards.

Zanth's eyes widened in shock, but he threw up a larger ebony triangle shield just in time to block, clearly straining to hold it, shocking the pair as he slowly made the glowing orange ball smaller and smaller. As it puffed out, Vita charged in again, but Zanth blocked it with his shield, and she was forced to retreat as Graf Eisen started to crack.

[What the hell kind of magic is he using!?] Vita wondered, as she glanced at her fractured weapon. "Graf Eisen, are you alright?"

"Jawhol!" it responded confidently in the affirmative.

She turned her gaze back to the Zanth-doll, who was currently flitting about with Agito, her fireballs hot on his heels. The doll's form was shifting more, causing Vita to think it was starting to look a bit familiar, but shook off that thought as unimportant; they needed to stop this thing once and for all.

"[Agito, let's drive him to the ruins sector, so we can fully unleash on him,]" Vita sent, sending more crimson orbs after Zanth, sending him higher into the sky to avoid them.

"[I got you, we'll pincer him and force him where we want, I'll take the left,]" she replied, launching more fireballs.

If he realized their plan, he didn't show it as the pair chased him out of the city; to Vita, it just looked like he was grateful to be out of the book and was enjoying his new reality and magic powers, laughing as he fired off black beams and orbs at them every so often. But eventually, they did arrive and Vita grinned, activating the dimensional barrier spell she had been prepping, trapping all three of them in this ruined sector.

"_Raketenform!_" Graf Eisen announced, after popping a cartridge.

"Pferde!" Vita shouted, increasing her speed as she spun, then charged at the small target Agito was chasing, laying down cover fire.

Zanth just barely arched over the rocket hammer, and Vita's eyes widened a bit at the black outfit "he" was wearing now, leather straps down the left leg and right arm. Then the moment passed and her attack continued on, slamming into the middle of a multi-story ruined building, shattering it the steel and concrete, sending it crashing down on both of them. Vita's enhanced speed got her out of the way just in time, but the sheer amount of debris and dust covered several blocks, obscuring any observation.

"Did you get him?" Agito asked eagerly from across the way.

"I don't think so, but I have a way that might work," Vita replied as her hammer returned to normal. "Agito, let's unison and use Megaton Hammer!"

The little demon grinned and flew towards her. "Ah, let's do it!"

Vita turned and spread her arms to receive the unison device, but something else got there first. Zanth shot out of the dust and smoke and impacted the side of Vita's body, fusing the two of them a few seconds before Agito got there.

Horrified, Agito watched Vita convulse and scream in mid-air, her barrier jacket flickering from red to black and back again.

x~~*~~x

"_Clarius!" Rein shouted in worry. "Are you alright!?"_

_The old man was laying on his back on the floor in Zanth's hideout, obviously weakened. "Little one, you are here!" His breathing was labored, heavy. "I... don't have much time. Already I can feel my program breaking down.... I must relay to you... the memories of Shamal and Vita... in case they are needed. I think.... Shamal is in danger..."_

"_No, you can't die!" Rein pleaded, touching the old man's cheek gently, tears in her eyes. "I just got to know you, the creator of my predecessor. I want to learn more about you!"_

"_I have lived long enough," he told her sadly, reaching up to gently wipe one of her tears with a finger. "We were never meant to be immortal, and this is the price I pay for trying to achieve that. I am no better than Zanth."_

_The finger moved to touch her forehead and the download began. When it was over, Clarius's hand dropped, displaying more difficulty in drawing breath._

"_Clarius..." Rein uttered, finally understanding. "Does this mean...?"_

"_Yes, Zanth is not what he appears," the old program confirmed, his eyes closing for the last time. "I am not totally sure myself, but the answers are within you. You must go now, Shamal is in danger, and only you can save her. Go... my daughter..."_

x~~*~~x

Rein's eyes flashed open. "Shamal!"

"How are you feeling?" Shamal asked, withdrawing Klarer wind from her. "I think I removed all the anesthetic I infused you with earlier.

"Where's Zanth!?" she asked worriedly, sitting up a bit sluggishly as her body shook off the remaining effects.

"Easy there, Vita and Agito went after him, and Hayate just left," Shamal told her. "They can handle it. Just rest for now."

"No, they can't!" Rein blurted out, beginning to float up. "I need to go; Zanth isn't who he seems to be!"

x~~*~~x

"[Are you sure about that, Rein?]" Hayate asked, after allowing the small girl to catch up and unison with her. The two were now flying over the city, tracking Vita.

"[I think so, Clarius shared his suspicions with me when I found him, before I went to help Shamal,]" Rein answered back a bit hesitantly, feeling a tear in her eye again. "[He didn't think it was Zanth, but that I would know. Ooh, I just can't explain it, but I know I'm right!]"

"[I can't reach Vita by telepathy, so either she's out of range, or unable to respond,]" Hayate said, then patted the object in a pouch hanging from her waist. "[And I hope I was right to bring this along.]"

x~~*~~x

_Bodies littered the ground, the broken and bloody remains of her family, destroyed in the wake of the the assault. _

[No, stop it!] Vita shouted in her mind.

_The man she knew as her father sneered at her. "They are dead, and there's nothing you can do about it. Join me instead, in the new Belkan Empire!"_

_Never had Vita felt such a strong sense of betrayal as she gripped her weapon, tears streaming from her eyes. "WHY!? They were your family, too!"_

[Why...] the word echoed over and over inside her mind. [My family... my own adopted father...]

"_Family?" he laughed. "They were just soldiers who decided to betray us first! Weak, insignificant beings we longer need. You can't trust them, only me."_

[NOOOO!] she cried, trying to shut her mind against the images, but just like back then, the revelation drove her mad with grief. [I'll kill you and save them!]

"_Kill your own father?" he sneered again, drawing his sword. "I'd like to see you try! And behold your NEW family!" _

_Dozens of robot drones with crab-like legs and scythe's for arms emerged from the darkness, and when it was over, Vita stared down at her father, dying by her hands, stained red with both his blood and her own, and she screamed..._

x~~*~~x

"Vita!" Hayate shouted as she arrived, as the hammer knight continued to twitch in mid-air. "What happened?"

Agito turned, her face full of worry. "Zanth... he unisoned with her!"

Hayate stared. "What!?"

Vita's convulsions eventually stopped, and she just hung there for a moment, head bowed, before it finally came up and she turned to face them. Hayate was struck by the blood red eyes and slight smile, wondering what effect this unison was having on her.

"Vita?" Hayate ventured floating up a bit closer. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, we're more than alright," came Vita's voice, although it wasn't quite; there was some echo, as if another voice was talking at the same time. The crimson of hammer knight's barrier jacket turned jet black, while the black trimmings became red, almost as if the two color schemes had switched with each other. "And let me show you how good we feel!"

Vita dove at them, swinging and laughing, driving Agito and Hayate to separate. She ignored the little fire demon, chasing Hayate across the sky in the shifting dreary-color of the barrier dome, forcing the mistress of the Wolkenritter to focus on flight, not giving her time to work up a spell.

"Vita, what happened?" Hayate called out to her. "I know you're in there somewhere! You know who we are; don't let Zanth do this to you!"

"What makes you think Vita doesn't want this?" the dual voice taunted, smacking several black orbs at her. "We are quite strongly in agreement."

Hayate grimly noted that was Vita's Schwalbe Fliegen spell, the steel orbs enhanced by Zanth's unison. She deflected two with shields, able to fully deflect them thanks to Rein's own unison with her, but she grimly noted that the orbs hadn't just exploded upon contact with buildings, but seemed to disintegrate the entire structures into dust.

"[It's no good!]" Rein noted inside her. "[Vita has been turned mad by Zanth, just like the others! I need to get in contact with her to relay her memories!]"

"[Good idea, then you and Agito can coordinate your attacks while I have her attention,]" Hayate agreed, and the unison was promptly canceled as Rein shot off in another direction.

"It's unwise to make yourself so weak, Hayate," Vita's dual echoing voice gleefully admonished her. "That unison was the only thing keeping you from experiencing my full power!"

Hayate kept swerving between buildings, staying low to the ground, occasionally flying through them for cover; she didn't have time to work up a spell, and she was no match for melee combat, but she could fly very well. "Why did you have to take Vita like that? We gave you a body like you wanted!'

"This isn't what I wanted!" Zanth/Vita shot back, vaporizing another building just as Hayate flew out of it. "I wanted a body that was fully linked with the book, so I could draw upon its full power! But you have given me something interesting; as a unison device, I can continue to live forever, inhabiting the bodies of the most powerful mages! And taking one of your own, means you can't lift a hand to stop me, for fear of hurting one of your 'children'."

[So that's his game,] Hayate realized. [I can't let him use Vita like this, though. There has to be a way...] While she thought, she zipped around a corner, getting a telepathic message from Agito. Following the next bend, she ducked low and kept flying, then stopped and began a spell.

Zanth/Vita flew around the corner and froze, seeing Agito with another huge fireball sitting there, waiting for him, which she promptly tossed his way. He backed around to avoid it, letting it go past and then resumed pursuit back around the corner, ready to attack Agito.

She wasn't there.

But Hayate was, with a dark orb hovering over her head. "Diabolic Emission!"

"Oh crap," Zanth/Vita cursed, then took off as the sphere detonated, growing and encompassing most of the area inside the dome and nipping at his heels. He let out a sigh as he managed to escape the effects, only to turn and see Rein there.

"Freezing Bind!" she shouted, waving her hand at him, as the diabolic emission spell died away.

Light blue circles encompassed his wrists and feet prevented movement, and after a brief struggle trying to get loose, he spat at her, "So you got me. Now what? You can't force me out."

"But Vita can," Rein declared, floating up to touch the hammer knight, but there was a flash of dark light and she was repulsed.

Zanth/Vita smirked. "I warned you! I own this body now, and there's nothing you can do about it!"

"We'll figure something out," Hayate informed him, flying up along with Agito.

"Ha, you won't get the chance," Zanth/Vita taunted. "I control this body, remember? I can stop her heart, or burst a blood vessel in her brain. Which would you prefer?"

"You won't do that," Hayate told him evenly. "Because I have something you want."

He eyed her. "And what would that be?"

"Me," she answered, spreading her arms. "I'm a more powerful mage than Vita, and I have direct access to the Tome of the Night Sky. You still want that, don't you?"

"Hayate, you can't!" Rein shouted at her, distress bleeding into her voice.

"For once, the squirt is right," Agito agreed. "We'd be exchanging one hostage for another. Vita wouldn't want this, you know that!"

"It's my call to make," Hayate replied, her expression firm. "I won't let any of my family be harmed."

Zanth/Vita smiled slowly. "Well now, if that's what you want, then so be it. Come here."

Hayate floated up to the bound hammer knight and wrapped her arms around the smaller girl in a tender hug, while whispering softly in her ear, "I'm sorry, but I won't let you be harmed this way, Vita."

Rein watched the flash in despair, as Vita's armor returned to normal and Hayate began to float backwards again. But Vita didn't return to normal, her eyes unfocused as she threatened to kill everyone and angrily pulled on her binds, which were beginning to break.

Rein wasted no time in flying up and kissing Vita's cheek, beginning the memory download....

x~~*~~x

_She was a foot soldier, a captain, in the ranks of the growing Belkan Army. At first it had been a means of self-defense following the collapse of the Belkan Empire, but due to superior technology, the Belkans had been growing in power once more and threatening to unleash that army as an aggressor once more. This planet was now fully conquered in large part by units like hers, and somehow, she went along with it; she told herself it was just to protect her family, her unit, the men and women she served with, but she was beginning to doubt that._

_That doubt grew when rumors of more advanced weapons had been developed, so-called artificial solders that were really drones and robots intended to replace the unreliable and harder-to-maintain regular army units. Their loyalty would be unquestionable, and Belka could inflate their army to 10 times it's size, easily, and initiate the conquest to reclaim their empire, plunging the universe back into war._

_But all this was just occupied just a small part of Vita's thoughts for the moment as she dashed through the streets, having just come from her meeting with that Guardian Beast. Someone was attacking the castle, but she didn't care who; all that mattered was this was their opportunity for their unit to leave before things got worse. Reaching the barracks through the distraction the Guardian Beasts provided, she gave the word as her 50 man unit had been ready to go for some time, but there was a problem; their commander had been ordered to report to the Belkan King. Vita ordered them to go on without her, and she would go after him._

_He was like a father to her, having taken her in as a war orphan and trained her. She had become his second in the unit, responsible for training new recruits and keeping discipline so he could give orders, and thus she wouldn't leave without him._

_Vita left to head deeper into the castle, but along the way, she ran into a doctor who challenged her, declaring she wouldn't go back to serving Belkan royalty again. Vita grinned, and said if she was planning to escape, to go with her unit; she could still catch them if she headed straight for their barracks. The doctor thanked her and left, but Vita was to encounter one other before she found her commander, in the form of an injured rat._

_But not just any rat, the intelligence gathering spy for the Guardian Beasts. In horror, she listened as he told her of a hidden factory deep underground that was producing the artificial soldiers, but there was more. It wasn't just a factory, but a powerful spaceship with incredibly advanced weapons and defenses; the Belka royalty was planning to use it to reunify the planets under their empire once more. If it launched, there would be no stopping it; no one would be safe. He asked her to protect everyone by taking it out. Gripping her hammer in her hand, she swore to the brave expiring spy-rat that she do just that, as her family was in danger as well._

_As he passed away, clapping echoed around the poorly-lit great hall, and Vita's gazed tracked around until she detected the origin of the applause, a familiar male emerging from the darkness beyond. It was her commander, and he told her that he knew of the unit's plans to flee, but also knew they wouldn't succeed; they were stupid, weak, to think they could escape the consequences of their betrayal. Still, he offered her alone the chance to join him, as he had always been impressed by her strength; there would be room for her in the new order. The Belkan King had assumed a new title, that of Sankt Kaiser, and had plans to rule the entire universe._

_Angered by the real betrayal of the man she once called father, she reiterated her vow to stop the Belkan royalty, and he sneered at her for her brave, but futile vow; the Cradle couldn't be stopped by anyone._

"_There's nothing Graf Eisen and I can't destroy," she told him, charging towards her former commander._

_Dull gray armored forms materialized around him, about her size but with crab like legs and long bladed arms. However, Vita was enraged and tore through them like they were tinfoil, forcing her commander to draw his sword to block her. The one-on-one combat was fierce, and he managed to injure her side, but in the end, Vita shattered his sword and impacted his body with tears in her eyes, mortally wounding him. Laying there, he didn't show much remorse, but he did mention that the Elevator to the Cradle was hidden in a stone column a short ways down the hall, and maybe he chose the wrong side. and _

_Vita said she'd get him out of here, but he told her there was no time; the Cradle would be launching soon, and once it was up, nothing could bring it down. Her only chance was to get inside and smash up the engine, after all, there was nothing that she couldn't destroy. She listened, tears streaming her face, as he told her that it was time to really see which one of them was right; he still felt the Bekan way was right, and that a new age was coming that couldn't be stopped. Could one lone hammer knight even hope to stand up to that? His ghost would be watching her, he told her, as he expired._

_Vita screamed, then turned her back to him and ran; she was a soldier with a mission to complete, and above all, a soldier knows the risks in combat and keeps their head at all costs. She descended the elevator, emerging in the hidden basement, fighting her way through more and more drones, some of which generated an anti-magic field that made her attacks weaker. She was cut, stabbed, and bleeding, but she fought on, emerging in the giant hanger where the large ship was located._

_But she was too late._

_As she watched in horror, the huge vessel began to move, breaking through the ceiling as it rose, sending debris falling from above. The wall behind her collapsed, trapping her legs and partially burying her. Tears still in her eyes, she watched the ship break through to the sky, knowing she had failed, and that her family would pay the price._

_She didn't know how long she lay there, staring up at the cloudy sky that slowly lightened up with the first rays of morning, but she was surprised when a man addressed her._

"_So here you are, I had a hard time finding you as my search spells aren't exactly what they used to be," an elderly man in faded blue robes said._

"_Who... are you?" she managed to say._

"_You were recommended to me for the fourth and final member for Guardians of the Tome of the Night sky," he replied, as three glowing forms appeared beside him._

_Vita recognized the guardian beast and the doctor, and also recalled the knight she had heard had been thrown in jail for treason before. Stunned, she listened as he explained his purpose, to document the progress of magic and safeguard knowledge for the time when the coming conflict would end. They would support and protect, and she would be the spear point, to destroy what threatened each new master of the Tome. Inside the book, as a living program, she would have new life._

_Knowing her time was close, Vita accepted and was absorbed into the book. She had failed her family, but was being given a second chance; she wouldn't fail again._

_Yet the old man sighed, as he turned his gaze skyward. "The Reunification Wars have begun, just as it was foretold..."_

x~~*~~x

Rein parted from Vita, turning to watch Hayate, who was obviously struggling to hold onto her consciousness. "Hayate, fight him!"

"Rein..." Hayate replied, panting. "Vita... Agito... I'm sorry..."

Stunned, the three watched as Hayate's head dropped and her knight armor flickered from white to black, and then the latter won out. The already black portions of her armor, and her wings, went gray, and then her head came back up.

Her eyes were red.

Xx~~*~~xX

Author's notes:

Almost done. Expect the unexpected in the last chapter, entitled "Second Wind."


	6. Second Wind

**Recollections of a Lost Age**

**Chapter 6: Second Wind**

Xx~~*~~xX

"Hayate!" Vita shouted, as her bind spell faded, torn as to her course of action.

She couldn't attack Zanth, not while he had Hayate's body, but she couldn't just float here and do nothing! Especially after the way Hayate had save her from her own grief and madness; there had to be a way, if only she could just think of it...

The hammer knight and the two unison devices continued to stare at Hayate's red eyes, then were further stunned as her hand shot into the pouch and pulled out a collar, activating it and snapping it onto her neck. Almost immediately, her levitation was canceled, and she began a free-fall drop to the ground below.

"Hayate!" Rein screamed as Vita dove, catching her mistress.

"Shit, what did that bitch do!?" Hayate demanded in that strange dual-voice similar to the one Vita used earlier. "Why can't I gather any magic!?"

Vita raised an eyebrow in confusion as she landed and set Hayate down, realizing she couldn't detect the woman giving off any mana.

"That collar is one of Shari's magical devices," Rein explained. "It's a special AMF lock for locking down dangerous mages; the AMF is fairly powerful, but short range and directed specifically to disrupt the control of mana flowing out of the linker core. Hayate planned to use it like this."

"So she's harmless now?" Agito wondered, looking over the unisoned Mistress of the Wolkenritter. "Wait, an AMF cancels a unison, doesn't it?"

Rein smiled slowly. "Normally, yes. But Shari made adjustments to it, due to her work on the unison devices, in case they were ever needed against a unisoned target.. It locks the unison device inside the body, making it work like sort of a prison."

Zanth/Hayate forced herself out of Vita's arms, reaching up to try and take the collar off, but it was obviously not that simple. "Damn damn damn! Get this thing off me!"

"I don't know how," Rein insisted despairingly. "I think only Shari and maybe Hayate know."

The collared and unisoned mage pointed at Vita. "You, get this off! I know you can do it, because as you claim so much, you can destroy anything. Do it, or I kill your mistress here and now!"

"Alright!" Vita growled, moving around behind to look at it. "But I have to do this carefully. I won't hurt Hayate."

"Fine, but make it quick," Zanth/Hayate snapped.

x~~*~~x

Hayate's eyes slowly opened as she floated in a familiar shifting green void, recognizing being here before. This was part of her hastily-formed plan, and although risky, she felt it was worth a shot, based on what Rein had told her. She righted herself and looked around, wondering how to proceed, but the choice was made for her.

"How do you get this collar!?" Zanth demanded, his voice echoing from everywhere.

She allowed herself a small smile. "Whatever do you mean? I promised you my body. I didn't say what condition it was going to be in."

"Don't toy with me, woman!" he snarled back, materializing in front of her. "I could kill you with a thought!"

She crossed her arms over her chest and dared him. "Do it. With the collar in place, you wouldn't be able to cancel the unison; you'd die in here with me."

His fast twisted in calm anger, but he got her point. "Fine, stay in here. I'll get the collar off, and then enjoy picking off your precious knights, one by one." He turned to leave.

"Is that what you really want?" she asked, her voice changing to something more soothing and warm. "That's probably what Zanth would want, but what about you?"

He paused for a moment. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Hayate sighed as he disappeared; this wasn't going to be as easy as she thought.

x~~*~~x

Hayate's now-red eyes flashed open, and she growled with anger as she sat up, taking note of her state. "You still haven't removed it."

"I could smash it right now, but it would take out you and Hayate at the same time," Vita informed him, hefting Graf Eisen, then smiled grimly. "But you know I won't do that. We have to get the collar off in a slightly gentler way."

"Or you could just let Hayate go," Rein beseeched her possessed mistress. "I know how lonely it must have been for you in there."

"Shut up!" Zanth/Hayate spat at her. "Let's just get going back to your technician so she can remove this damn thing."

Agito's look of disbelief was obvious. "What the hell do you mean, lonely!? The bastard tried to kill you and the rest!"

"Clarius told me that he actually isn't Zanth," Rein explained.

"Shut up!" Hayate nearly screamed, jumping forward to grab the device, but Rein dodged and floated up higher.

"I think you absorbed a part of him when the real Zanth was in the book," Rein continued, sadly. "Most of him was wiped when Reinforce sacrificed herself, but she didn't take everything. What was left behind in Hayate's Linker Core, which was later transferred back into the book along with the spells that remained. Hayate created me from the remnants of Reinforce's personality, but not everything was used."

"STOP IT!" Hayate cried, trying to jump up to grab Rein.

"So who is that?" Vita asked, confused. "Parts of Reinforce and Zanth?"

"And mainly one other," Rein said sadly.

Without warning, Hayate howled in anger and frustration, and suddenly took off across the top of the building, catching the three girls by surprise. They started after her, but they were too late to stop her as Hayate scooped up a broken piece of pipe, and began jamming it on the collar. Before the trio could reach her, the collar cracked, and then broke as Hayate pulled it off, then took to the air, staff and book appearing in her hands.

"Resound, horn of judgment!" she chanted, then pointing her staff. "Ragnarok!"

The blue beam of magic impacted the spatial barrier upward at a 45 degree angle, and at first it seemed like it was going to hold. Then cracks appeared, and it shattered, causing Vita to curse; making the barrier so wide gave them a good fighting space, but also made it weak enough for Hayate to punch through it.

"We have to stop her from getting back to the city!" Vita shouted, forming a couple of steel balls between her fingers; she might not be not be able to directly harm Hayate, but she could alter her path with some well-guided shots.

Rein realized what Vita was planning, and prepared her own spells, coordinating with Agito; Hayate could do a lot of damage if she got back to the city. Plus, she had to have faith in her mistress's plan; Hayate would accomplish what she had to, they just needed to give her more time!

x~~*~~x

"I know you can hear me," Hayate remarked loudly, still floating in the green void. "You must be wondering why I'm not fighting you, and letting you have full control of my body."

"If it's about the collar, you can forget it!" came the deriding voice. "I've destroyed it, so I can now use your magic to destroy your knights!"

"I know you don't really want to do that," Hayate replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "Rein told me before I came over here." She paused to see if he'd respond, but he didn't. "I can't imagine how long you were in here, locked away. And I don't know your story, but I'd like to learn."

There was another long pause, before the voice laughed. "And what do you think you know about me?"

"You want a family," she said softly. "Because you lost yours. Your mother died when you were young, and you felt your father was too busy on his project. You became sickly, and there was nothing he could do for you, except one thing: give you life in the book, hoping one day he could bring you back."

"You're speaking nonsense!" he spat back. "You're just guessing and making up things up!"

Hayate shook her head sadly. "We're joined, so I can read your feelings; and now that Rein has shown me what too look for, I've been spending my time in here probing some of your thoughts. The real Zanth must have locked you away, and erased all memory of you from Reinforce and the rest of the Wolkenritter. You were useless to him, but he couldn't or wouldn't delete you."

He finally materialized in front of her, but it was no longer a dark-haired older male in front of her, but a younger boy of about 15 in a plain, faded, blue robe, his head completely shaved. There was anger there, but now Hayate could detect a trace of sadness in his facial expression.

"It no longer matters what you think of me," he said, his voice now sounding younger, his pitch-black eyes beginning to leak "Father condemned me to a life of solitude in this book. I suffered while I was alive, and then suffered in a different way within in this book! He ignored me in life, and couldn't even let me die in peace!"

Hayate held out her arms and began to kneel down in front of him. "I know. My own life wasn't very fair to me, either, and sometimes I wondered how I could go on. But I found friends who helped me, just as they can help you."

"Forget it!" he spat at her, slapping her hands away and morphing back to the older version with black mustache and long hair. "I'll kill the knights and that miniature abomination you created. I'll completely eliminate what father worked to build!"

"And then what?" Hayate asked him softly.

He didn't respond, but disappeared in anger again, opening up a large screen showcasing what was going on outside through his eyes, and Hayate instantly knew his intentions: he was going to allow her to watch as he destroyed the knights one-by-one.

x~~*~~x

Rein let loose a blizzard of ice and snow, managing to slow Hayate and divert her path, but they were still coming too close to the city. If they ever let up, the unisoned mage could probably fire off a shot and do a lot of damage; in that case, the Bureau would have no choice but to order them to take her down. Shamal had apparently already contacted the Bureau to explain what was going on, so there were enforcers gathering to contain the situation, but Rein had received assurances they wouldn't interfere just yet, unless Hayate got too close.

Then they would take her out at any cost.

Vita flew in with her hammer again, swinging and impacting Hayate's black barrier, but didn't stay connected long. Those black shields Hayate was putting up had some sort of damaging effect, that ate away at magic and physical objects that collided with them. Still, they had to keep up the attacks and slowly whittle away at Hayate's huge mana reserves; once depleted, Hayate would be a lot easier to deal with and the enforcers wouldn't have to get involved to stop her permanently.

"[She's getting too close!]" Agito cursed telepathically to the other two while launching more fireballs. "[We're not gonna stop her in time unless we attack more forcefully! We have to stop her!]"

Rein could see Vita grip her hammer tighter; Agito was probably the only one who could say that, because she wasn't originally part of the Wolkenritter. "[We can't, we have to give Hayate more time!]"

"[Agito may be right,]" Vita seethed, tears forming in her eyes as she launched a half dozen more steel orbs. "[Hayate wouldn't want more blood on her hands, which is what will happen when she reaches the city; her wide area spells will do too much damage. It's only the fact that we're keeping constant pressure on her, that keeps her from working up Hraesvelgr.]"

"[Vita, you can't!]" Rein begged, horrified.

"[It's my fault!]" Vita cried, diving to attack point blank again, her hammer growing in size. "Graf Eisen!"

"_Zerstörungform!_" the hammer announced, forming the large drill that was he strongest attack.

"I was waiting for that!" Hayate's dual voice shouted, pausing in mid-air and thrusting out both hands. "Bloody Dagger Storm!"

"Vita, look out!" Rein called, but it was too late.

Dozens of crimson daggers exploded from Hayate's hands as Vita began her swing. The little hammer knight twisted as the first few went past, tearing the shoulders of her barrier jacket, then put up a triangular shield to block a dozen others. But even more had arced away from Hayate and come in at Vita from all angles; in horrific slow motion, the two smaller girls watched Vita's body get struck from multiple sides, then begin to fall backwards as Graf Eisen shrunk back to normal.

Rein prepared to go after her, but stopped as Agito told her telepathically that she'd get Vita, and to stop Hayate instead. Rein recognized the logic in the statement, as she was currently between Hayate and the city, and thus in the better position to stop her. Bracing herself, she began to ready her next spell.

"Think you can stop me alone, little one?" Hayate sneered at her. "All by yourself?"

"She's not alone," came Signum's voice as she flew up to Rein's right side. "None of us is ever alone."

"The Wolkenritter fight as one," Zafira declared, floating up on Rein's left in wolf form. "As it has been since the beginning."

Rein's eyes widened, then noted they still looked injured. "Signum! Zafira! Why did you two come?"

Signum lifted Levantine into a horizontal position and smiled grimly. "You don't have to fight this battle by yourself."

"This fight is important to all of us," Zafira added, baring his teeth. "We'll save her."

The unisoned Hayate grinned with teeth bared, as dozens of crimson daggers formed around her. "Suit yourself; I was planning to come after you next anyway."

x~~*~~x

Hayate's hand clenched as she watched the screen showing Signum and Zafira dodging the attacks, but their movements were slowed by their earlier injuries, and they were obviously reluctant to attack her directly. She began to doubt her plan; was she wrong for what she was attempting to do? It seemed like the right thing, but if she failed, it wouldn't be just her family that paid the price.

"One down," the taunting voice came. "Which one will be next: the Blazing Fool, or the Guardian Mutt?"

"How about you join our family instead?" Hayate offered. "You don't have to be alone anymore. Your father is gone; even if you kill the knights, what then? What will that accomplish? The true answer is that you don't want to kill them. Even from the beginning, you wanted them on your side, that's why you used the remnants of Zanth to corrupt them, so you'd have a family again, after a fashion."

"Shut up!" he cried back, his voice reverting to that of the young teenage boy. "I'll really kill them! You saw it with Vita, and now I'll take out the rest!"

Hayate's heart rose into her chest as she saw Zafira dodge a bit too slowly, and several red daggers graze his body. Signum was counterattacking, but Hayate could tell they were also not going full out; despite the easing of the "master" programming, they were still devoted to her as close as any family she had ever had, but that also gave her an idea. She could struggle against him to take control, but that wouldn't solve the underlying issue; she needed to do this a certain way.

"Normally, you wouldn't stand a chance against them, even with the book," Hayate told him. "You know they are holding back; in fact, you're counting on it. Why is that?"

The voice barked out a short laugh. "Don't toy with me; your precious knights still think they can save you. You believe that kind of bond will make everything better, but it doesn't! You're just hoping it does. Sometimes that idealism really can't save you!"

"And sometimes it can," Hayate replied softly. "You don't know until you give it a chance. Wouldn't you like someone to care enough about you, the way my family does about me?" She held out her arms again as she spoke to the void. "You have proof of it in front of you; you just need to take my hands."

There was no response.

x~~*~~x

"Signum, look out!" Rein cried, throwing all her magic into Signum's barrier to block the powerful Ragnarok beam.

Miraculously, it held, but Rein knew it was only because she was unisoned with Signum at the moment. Hayate's spells had an added edge to them that worked to dissolve shields and barriers, and only her magic could seemingly counter it. Still, Signum wasn't in the best of shape, although she was trying not to show it; her speed was slower, and she was rationing her magic.

"He's going after Zafira again!" Rein noted with alarm.

The Guardian Beast had maneuvered behind Hayate during that last attack and had switched to human form, in an attempt to physically grab her from behind to prevent more casting, but the unisoned target had seen it coming and put up another stinging barrier then repelled him. In his weakened state, he was easily repulsed and knocked away. Signum and Rein dove for him, while sending Levantine out in snake form, creating a bladed tornado around Hayate to keep her in place for a short while. But they realized they wouldn't reach Zafira in time.

However, Shamal did, grabbing him in mid-air and attending to his wounds while smiling grimly. "I thought you guys could use some backup."

"Why!?" Hayate's unnatural voice demanded with fierce anger. "Why won't you pathetic morons just go away or die!?"

"You don't know us too well," Signum, lips turned upwards slightly, but her face firm as she confronted the possessed Hayate. "We are the Guardian Knights who gather before our mistress, she of the Night Sky."

Shamal released her patient as he came back around, and took up a posture at the 3 o'clock position from Signum, with Hayate in the center. "As long as our mistress exists, our souls will never extinguish."

Zafira floated up behind Hayate, on the opposite side of Signum. "As long as we have life in our bodies, we will stand by each other."

"We will always exist before our mistress, Queen of the Night Sky, Yagami Hayate!" Vita exclaimed, her hair crimson red and her barrier jacket orange with red highlights to indicate she was unisoned with Agito at the moment. She flew up to complete the four-way formation that surrounded their target.

"Ah, that's right!" Agito added eagerly. "He can't stop all of us!"

"Why you do you keep struggling!?" Hayate's dual voiced strained, tears appearing in her eyes as her right hand went up. "Is that master service program so strong, that you can't help but be puppets to this girl? Just leave me alone or die already!"

"[Look up!]" Rein cried out in alarm telepathically to the rest of the Wolkenritter, noting the black ball of crackling magic above them and how close they had drifted to the actual populated city. "[If he releases that Diabolic Emission spell here, it'll take out a decent chunk of Clanagan!]"

She canceled the unison and floated out of Signum. "Stop! You don't have to do this! I was shown you are, and I know you probably felt Clarius abandoned you, but he was only concerned about you. He couldn't heal your sickly body, and he couldn't bear to lose you, that's why he placed you within the book. He really did care about you! Your mother's death, and your sickness, hurt him greatly."

An obvious struggle was taking place on Hayate's face as it lowered, then came back up, still tear streaked, but angry. "NO! I should have died! We should have all died! I can correct that now! DIABOLIC EMISSION!"

"NO!" Rein screamed as the spell was released.

x~~*~~x

He appeared before her as the child in faded blue robes again, his eyes haunting and somewhat empty. "There, I've done it. They can't stop it, and they'll die if they try. That's what it wanted, and what I wanted, so it's done. I don't care anymore."

Hayate glanced at the screens in worry as the ebony ball of her strongest area effect spell was released, with all it's destructive power enhanced by the unison. But she'd have to trust that to her knights to deal with, as she turned back towards the boy and noted that, somehow, the fight seemed to have gone out of him; what changed? She wasn't quite sure, but she felt she had an opportunity here.

She knelt in front of him and placed her hands on his shoulders to look him in the eyes, then leaned forward to wrap her arms around him, hugging him.

"Why?" his voice croaked. "Your knights are as good as done, and we will soon be as well."

"They'll fight to the last to protect both me and you, along with each other and everyone else," she told him. "Because you're a part of our family now."

"My family is dead!" he cried. "Everyone I knew is dead! The knights and I are just programs, fake people!"

"Shh, I can see it all now," she told him, actually visualizing his memories more clearly, now that he wasn't actively fighting her attempts.

She finally understood everything.

x~~*~~x

Rein flew rapidly towards Shamal, sending her plan to the rest of the Wolkenritter. The Belkan doctor met her halfway and they merged, then threw up her shields to try her best to deflect the sphere from expanding northwards into the city.

Vita nodded as she heard her part, and rapidly descended to the ground directly below the expanding ebony sphere while popping several cartridges. "Agito, let's do it!"

"I'll put every last bit of flame I have into this!" she declared forcefully, her hands burning.

"_Gigantform_!" Graf Eisen called, growing to many times it size as it also burst into flame.

"Megaton Hammer!" Vita cried as she slammed Graf Eisen into the ground, her whole body covered with a protective magical blaze.

The impact point exploded into light and flame, a spherical burning inferno of orange and red growing upwards to meet the expanding ball of dark magical energy coming down. Signum flew between them, grabbing the hysterical Hayate and tackling her out of the way a second before the two powerful forces met and shoved against each other. Vita's flame shield held just long enough for her to get out out of the blast zone, then she could only watch helplessly as her fiery explosion was fought a slow losing battle against the more powerful Diabolic Emission spell.

Shamal continued to struggle to hold back the wave with her large green shields, but they were slowly pushed back. "It's too much!"

"We have to hold out!" Rein encouraged her from inside, also straining to enhance Shamal's shields and keep them intact. "We can't let it reach the city!"

"I'm here!" Zafira, yelled, then roared, sending up dozens of white spikes from the ground to impede it's path, trying to hold it back. Most of them fizzled after a few moments of contact, but their added impedance was just enough.

"It's working!" Rein cried with joy.

Sure enough, the combination was halting the explosion, and even causing it to start to shrink, as the powerful magic behind the spell was spent. Vita's explosion under it was also withering, dissolving upwards, and in a few more moments, both spells had faded to near nothingness. Shamal and Zafira smiled and nodded at each other, then took off after Vita, who was heading for Signum.

When they landed on the street, they saw Signum kneeling, holding an unconscious Hayate's head in her lap. They spoke no words, but watched over their mistress in worry as Shamal began to run scans and call for medical backup.

x~~*~~x

_He was a young boy, born to two loving parents, however the birth was difficult. It crippled the mother, and left the child sickly, but still, they loved him and tried their best to raise him. The father spent most of his time researching magic, trying to find a way to cure both his wife and his son, so much so, that sometimes the other two hardly saw him. The son grew a bit depressed over this, and even grew to resent him when the complications eventually killed his mother several years later._

_The father tried his best to raise him alone, splitting his time between that and research. He even created a magical construct that looked much like his mother to help, and although it resembled her physically, it didn't have her personality. He had kept her body in magical stasis, working on transferring memories and personality, but it wasn't too successful. The new being began to develop it's own thoughts and feelings, but not as their mother._

_The boy grew worse, and on his deathbed, his father lamented what had transpired and shared his breakthrough: a storage device in the shape of a book. Not just any storage device, but one that could incorporate a living person within, where they could live forever. The father transferred him in, along with his mother, to be the caretakers of the newly named Tome of the Night Sky. In time, he added four others, and the while the woman wasn't his mother, he was also no longer sickly, and he began to love his new family._

_But then Zanth Le Ronne happened, an extremely talented pupil of his father's. He was designated to take the book next, but Clarius found out about his heart was dark, and sent him away to learn to temper it. Zanth, in anger, put himself into stasis. He couldn't match Clarius in magic, but he knew of the book's powerful reincarnation program, and thus he merely waited for Clarius to die, and for some time to pass. Then he awoke and claimed it._

_In horror, the boy watched as his family was beaten, violated, and twisted to the whims of Zanth. Their memories of him were wiped and he was locked into the book, hidden and forever alone, unable to die and unable to escape. It was a form of revenge; Zanth wanted Clarius's only son to suffer, by watching the works he would perform using the renamed Book of Darkness. At the end of his life Zanth even incorporated himself into the book as a program before he died. Ages passed, as he witnessed horror after horror committed by following masters, and the atrocities the knight's and the Book were ordered to commit._

_Then a young woman named Hayate Yagami became master of the book. The boy witnessed the knight's slowly return to humanity, vestiges of the kindness and caring that he knew from them re-emerging. But he was still locked in, and try as he might, he couldn't reach anyone. He could only watch them enjoy the life that should have been his, watching as they cared for the girl that should have been him._

_Then something happened: the girl renamed the one that bore his mother's face as "Reinforce" and the corruption was temporarily halted. The defense program mostly destroyed, he again watched in horror as Reinforce sacrificed herself to take the corruption with her; but it also took most of the Zanth program with her, although unwittingly a small part of it managed to survive._

_For a time, there was nothing else, as the rest of the book's programming had been incorporated into Hayate's Linker Core, including him, still locked in his hidden prison. Only once the new book was completed from the old vessel and everything re-downloaded, did the old shell personality program of the old Zanth approach him. It lacked power, but it could break his prison in return for his help in their shared goal: revenge. They were both doomed to rot in here, but together they could make everything theirs again; they could make everyone pay for abandoning them._

_The boy agreed, and the two merged and waited, then saw their chance in a new being born from the book: Reinforce Zwei, made from remnants of the personality of the old Reinforce. They manged to get a small link opened between the book and her mind, as they worked over the years to increase their power, gathering up the unused remnants of the original Reinforce's personality. But the new combined being noticed there were complications, as Rein's mind seemed to be too well-protected for him to take over; he couldn't get in._

_Then she was injured while unisoned with the hammer knight, and the protections briefly went offline. He went in and spent the next few years sneaking around, setting up his revenge._

_But despite everything, the boy still remained, and a part of him still longed for a family._

x~~*~~x

"Your name is-" Hayate started to say with realization.

"NO!" he screamed, sniffling through his tears. "That's not my name anymore! I'm not him! He died all those years ago!"

Surprised, she pulled back a bit to look into his face, meeting his red eyes, cupping his face in her hands wiping his tears with her thumbs. "Then I'll give you a new name..."

"A n-new name?" he nearly stammered, surprised. "W-why? Just let me die, I'm useless."

"You're not useless, and you're part of our family now," Hayate told him, her white belkan triangle flaring underneath them as the green void around them faded to black. "You have a sad heart now, but you also have power and will, and so in the name of the Mistress of the Night Sky, I grant you a new name. One who breaks down any barriers or obstacles in our path from those that seeks to harm those under your protection, to erode the danger that casts a dark shadow, and to walk the dark places when no one else can... Enervate."

The black had faded from the boy's teary wide eyes, changing to red irises, as he stared at her in awe and wonder. Then he abruptly and suddenly clutched his head in pain.

Hayate wasn't expecting that, as she grabbed his shoulders again. "What's wrong? What's happening?"

He knocked her hands away and took several steps back, panting. "I still have... pieces within me... they don't like... this and want... to take control!"

"Your family is here, we'll fight it together!" she told him firmly, but with pleading in her voice, because she could sense what was coming.

"No, you can't!" he grunted through clenched teeth, seemingly getting it under control for a moment. "You tried once before, with Rein, which led to all this! I have to deal with this on my own!" His gaze softened a bit. "But... with luck... maybe I'll be back sometime soon to experience my new family..."

She took a step forward in distress. "But-"

He thrust his open palm at her and snarled: "GO!"

The Mistress of the Night Sky felt a pain in her gut as he faded from sight.

x~~*~~x

"Well, how is he?" Hayate asked eagerly, not taking her eyes off the small nude form floating in the jar.

Rein stood on the table, looking at the small boy; could he technically be considered her brother? She didn't know, and was still waiting for Hayate to explain. He had emerged from Hayate a moment before she awoke, then she had rushed back to the lab so that Shamal and Shari could fully examine him.

The Belkan doctor didn't look up, as she continued to have Klarer Wind run scans while interfaced with the lab computers. "I'm not entirely sure, but... he seems to be in something resembling a coma; there's no telling when he could come out of it. There appears to be some strange brain activity, almost as if..."

"What?" Hayate prompted, concerned.

Shamal finally looked up. "If he were one of my human patients, I'd think he had multiple personalities."

"You're not entirely off," Shari added quietly. "There are definitely at least two distinct brain patterns there now. I'm not sure why it's like that; I double-checked my earlier readings, and they only showed one."

Hayate finally sat back in a chair and exhaled. "I thought as much."

"I don't get it," Agito said, confused floated down to take a look at him. "Isn't he the bad guy? Can't we get rid of him now?"

Hayate shook her head. "We need to take care of him now, because he's one of us."

"Don't tell me you're thinking of trying to dive back into a subconscious again!" Shamal pleaded. "It was bad enough the first time!"

The Mistress of the Wolkenritter allowed herself a small smile. "No, a much I'd like to, the upper brass has vetoed that idea based on what happened; they don't want him taking over a powerful mage again. They actually wanted to destroy him, but I talked them into just keeping him locked up and under observation for now, saying that the data could be valuable for the Bureau's own unison device program. But really, I made a promise to myself, and to him, to take care of him from now on."

"Hayate, was I right, then?" Rein asked hesitantly, her eyes full of wonder..

"Will someone please explain what's going on!?" Vita demanded in exasperation, finally losing it. "I thought we went through all of this to destroy the little annoying bugger!"

"It's a long story," Hayate told her, sitting up, then gestured to the small male unison device in the jar. "But for now, I'd all like you to meet someone. Or perhaps it's more appropriate to say, get reacquainted with a member of our family."

"Reacquainted?" Signum inquired. "I do not understand. I don't recognize him; who is he?"

Hayate thought for a moment. "Well, we can get to that later. For now, his name is Enervate..."

Xx~~*~~xX

Author's notes:

Whew, finally done! When I started this, I actually didn't have much of a plot outline. Just a vague idea to create backstories for the Wolkenritter, explore some of the history of Book, it's creator, and its later corruption. Also, to do a chapter for each of the original members, but that was it. So, my lack of comprehensive notes made this a bit difficult for me, and had me run up against certain issues that I had to think about how to work around.

One of the main ones being the collar Hayate uses here. I had kinda planned to have her use it, but after writing it out, I remembered the end of strikers, where the Cradle AMF seemed to forcibly cancel Hayate's unison with Rein. Oops. So I kinda cheated with the plot device and modified it's function, and also didn't have it last too long.

Also, in talks with others, I got a better idea of the circumstances of Rein's creation, and the details of the device Reinforce left behind. While it seems to kinda counter some of the concepts I did in this fic, I felt I had some wiggle room to play around with. Hope it entertained a bit!

If you're curious about Enervate, and what will happen to him, you'll have to tune into "MGLN: Through a Mirror, Darkly." As I said, this can be read as a standalone, but I'm also placing it in my Crisis universe, so he'll come back into play in that sequel.

Until next time, and thanks for reading!


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